Though not as powerful as Katrina, Hurricane Rita still packed a wallop as it roared ashore onto the Gulf Coast early Saturday morning, tearing off roofs, sparking fires and downing power lines.

The Category 3 storm left more than 2 million homes and businesses in Texas and Louisiana without power and caused at least $2.5 billion in damage, according to Reuters. Most of the hardest-hit areas lie in southeast Texas and southwest Louisiana, where a 15-foot storm surge swamped low-lying communities.

However, damage was not as extensive as expected. Only one Rita-related fatality was reported by Saturday night, and the hurricane spared major cities like Galveston or Houston.

Among those spared were the families of some UD students, including sophomore chemical engineering major Adela Pena of Houston.

Pena worried about her family and had had difficulties reaching them in the days before the storm hit.

'I was unable to get through,' she said.

Some of her relatives joined the 3 million others who left the coast in an evacuation that led to 100-mile traffic jams in the Houston area. After being stuck in traffic for hours, Pena's mother decided to return to Houston to wait out the storm.

'My mom tried to get out,' Pena said. 'She spent half a tank of gas just sitting on the freeway.'

Rita's floods did not reach Pena's home, and her relatives returned to their own homes by Saturday night.

Even though his neighborhood in Houston has escaped the worst, second-year law student Justin Hodge said that there are still concerns. His parents' electricity comes and goes. People have access neither to gas nor grocery stores, which remain closed. Hodge said his parents described the place as a 'ghost town.'

That may change soon as evacuees return to their homes. Some began the return trip Sunday, although Texas officials were still urging people to stay put, CNN.com reported. Texas Director of Homeland Security Steve McCraw devised a plan to stagger the repopulation of cities in order to avoid the gridlock and frustrations of the evacuation.

The full impact of Rita on the region's oil and gas industry is unknown, although most refineries escaped major damage. Due to the refineries' shutting down before and after the hurricane, output was greatly reduced. The area represents about a quarter of the nation's total refining capacity, and the strain on production is expected to push gas prices past $3 per gallon, according to the Associated Press.

Even so, Rita was far from being the deadliest disaster to strike the Gulf Coast. That title goes to a hurricane that barreled into Galveston over 100 years ago. The 'Great Storm' killed at least 8,000 people and destroyed nearly 75 percent of the city in September 1900.

Hurricane season isn't over yet, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which predicted 11 to 14 tropical storms from August to November, including three to five major hurricanes.

Hurricanes are always a risk for those who live in these storm zones, but it's just something to live with, Hodge said. Regarding Rita, people 'were prepared for the worst and hoped for the best.'