The Rice University Neologisms Database

a mass evacuation from Texas of biblical proportions Used to describe the evacuation (or the resulting horrendous traffic jam) along the Gulf Coast region of Texas to escape Hurricane Rita, as the majority of the Houston population tried to leave the city by car. The word comes from a blend of “Texas” and “exodus”. Exodus comes from the second book of the Bible, which describes how the Hebrew slaves left Egypt under the leadership of Moses, and has since come to refer to the departure of a large group of people from a particular place. This word was used because it was a catchy, one-word summary of the top news story of the day, and therefore useful as a newspaper headline.