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Hurricane Rita

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Hurricane Rita



 
 
Hurricane Rita was the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane
Atlantic hurricane

North Atlantic tropical cyclones usually form in summer or autumn. Tropical cyclones can be broken down by intensity. Tropical storms have one-minute maximum sustained winds of at least 39 mph , while hurricanes have one-minute maximum sustained exceeding 74 mph ....
 ever recorded and the most intense tropical cyclone
Tropical cyclone

A tropical cyclone is a storm characterized by a large low pressure system center and numerous thunderstorms that produce strong winds and flooding rain....
 ever observed in the Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico

The Gulf of Mexico is the ninth largest body of water in the world. Considered a smaller part of the Atlantic Ocean, it is an oceanic basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba....
. Rita caused $11.3 billion in damage on the U.S. Gulf Coast
Gulf Coast of the United States

The Gulf Coast region of the United States comprises the coasts of states which border the Gulf of Mexico. The states of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida are known as the Gulf States....
 in September 2005. Rita was the seventeenth named storm, tenth hurricane, fifth major hurricane, and third Category 5 hurricane of the historic 2005 Atlantic hurricane season
2005 Atlantic hurricane season

The 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was the most active List of Atlantic hurricane seasons in recorded history, repeatedly shattering previous records....
.

Rita made landfall on September 24 between Sabine Pass, Texas
Sabine Pass, Texas

Sabine Pass is a neighborhood of Port Arthur, Texas, Texas, United States. It lies on the west bank of Sabine Pass, near the Louisiana border....
 and Johnsons Bayou, Louisiana, as a Category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale
Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale

The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale is a classification used for most Western Hemisphere tropical cyclones that exceed the intensities of tropical depressions and tropical storms, and thereby become hurricanes....
.






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Encyclopedia


Hurricane Rita was the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane
Atlantic hurricane

North Atlantic tropical cyclones usually form in summer or autumn. Tropical cyclones can be broken down by intensity. Tropical storms have one-minute maximum sustained winds of at least 39 mph , while hurricanes have one-minute maximum sustained exceeding 74 mph ....
 ever recorded and the most intense tropical cyclone
Tropical cyclone

A tropical cyclone is a storm characterized by a large low pressure system center and numerous thunderstorms that produce strong winds and flooding rain....
 ever observed in the Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico

The Gulf of Mexico is the ninth largest body of water in the world. Considered a smaller part of the Atlantic Ocean, it is an oceanic basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba....
. Rita caused $11.3 billion in damage on the U.S. Gulf Coast
Gulf Coast of the United States

The Gulf Coast region of the United States comprises the coasts of states which border the Gulf of Mexico. The states of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida are known as the Gulf States....
 in September 2005. Rita was the seventeenth named storm, tenth hurricane, fifth major hurricane, and third Category 5 hurricane of the historic 2005 Atlantic hurricane season
2005 Atlantic hurricane season

The 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was the most active List of Atlantic hurricane seasons in recorded history, repeatedly shattering previous records....
.

Rita made landfall on September 24 between Sabine Pass, Texas
Sabine Pass, Texas

Sabine Pass is a neighborhood of Port Arthur, Texas, Texas, United States. It lies on the west bank of Sabine Pass, near the Louisiana border....
 and Johnsons Bayou, Louisiana, as a Category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale
Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale

The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale is a classification used for most Western Hemisphere tropical cyclones that exceed the intensities of tropical depressions and tropical storms, and thereby become hurricanes....
. It continued on through parts of southeast Texas. The storm surge
Storm surge

Storm surge is an offshore rise of water associated with a low pressure area weather system, typically a tropical cyclone. Storm surge is caused primarily by high winds pushing on the ocean's surface....
 caused extensive damage along the Louisiana and extreme southeastern Texas
Texas

Texas is a U.S. state located in the South Central United States, nicknamed the Lone Star State. Texas is the second largest U.S. state in both area and population, spanning , and with a growing population of 24.3 million residents....
 coasts and destroyed some coastal communities. The storm killed seven people directly; many others died in evacuations and from indirect effects.

Meteorological history

The storm system that became Rita formed at the tail of an old frontal boundary, where convection and low-level circulation around an upper-level low
Low pressure area

A low pressure area, or "low", is a region where the atmospheric pressure is lower in relation to the surrounding area. Low pressure systems form under areas of upper level divergence on the east side of upper troughs, or due to localized heating caused by greater insolation or active thunderstorm activity....
 developed steadily for over two days. A surface low formed near the disturbance, and the season's 18th tropical depression soon formed east of the Turks and Caicos. Less than a day after forming, the depression became the 17th tropical storm of the season on September 18 and was named Rita. A mandatory evacuation was ordered for the entire Florida Keys
Florida Keys

The Florida Keys are an archipelago of about 1700 islands in the southeast United States. They begin at the southeastern tip of the Florida peninsula, about south of Miami, Florida, and extend in a gentle arc south-southwest and then westward to Key West, Florida, the westernmost of the inhabited islands, and on to the uninhabited Dry Tort...
.

Rita was slow to become a hurricane; National Hurricane Center
National Hurricane Center

The National Hurricane Center , located at Florida International University in Miami, Florida, is the division of National Weather Service's Tropical Prediction Center responsible for tracking and predicting the likely behavior of tropical depressions, tropical storms and tropical cyclone....
 (NHC) reports early on September 20 estimated the storm's sustained surface winds at hurricane force (75 mph or 120 km/h). However, Rita lacked a complete eyewall; forecasters identified Rita as a tropical storm with 70 mph (110 km/h) winds overnight. Aircraft observations released at 9:45 a.m. EDT showed a closed eyewall and winds clearly at hurricane strength. Four hours later, the NHC reported that Rita had reached Category 2 hurricane strength, with 100 mph (160 km/h) maximum sustained winds.

Rita Wind
Warm water in the Gulf of Mexico, 1 °F (0.5 °C) above average, favored storm intensification. As Rita entered the Gulf, rapid intensification began. National Hurricane Center advisories issued every three hours each showed strengthening from 5 p.m. EDT on September 20 to 11 a.m. EDT on September 21, when Rita's maximum sustained winds increased to 140 mph (225 km/h). Rita continued to gain strength unabated. An update at 2:15 p.m. CDT (1815 UTC) said maximum winds had increased to 150 mph (240 km/h) and Rita's minimum pressure was 920 mbar (hPa
Pascal (unit)

The pascal is the SI derived unit of pressure, stress , Young's modulus and tensile strength. It is a measure of force per unit area i.e. equivalent to one newton per square meter or one joule per cubic meter....
). Less than two hours later, at 3:55 p.m. CDT, another update reported that Rita had strengthened to a Category 5 hurricane, with maximum wind speeds of 165 mph (265 km/h). At 6:50 p.m. CDT, a reconnaissance
Reconnaissance

Reconnaissance is a military and medical term denoting exploration conducted to gain information. Militarily, its shorthand Australian, Canadian, and British form is recce , its American usage form is recon ....
 aircraft recorded pressure of 899 mbar (hPa
Pascal (unit)

The pascal is the SI derived unit of pressure, stress , Young's modulus and tensile strength. It is a measure of force per unit area i.e. equivalent to one newton per square meter or one joule per cubic meter....
) away from the storm's center; the actual central pressure was thought to be lower still. At 10 p.m. CDT, Rita reached its maximum intensity, with sustained winds of 180 mph (290 km/h) and an estimated minimum pressure of 895 mbar (hPa
Pascal (unit)

The pascal is the SI derived unit of pressure, stress , Young's modulus and tensile strength. It is a measure of force per unit area i.e. equivalent to one newton per square meter or one joule per cubic meter....
), (26.43 in Hg).

Hurricane Rita's rapid intensification may in part be attributed to its passage over the Gulf Loop Current
Loop Current

Part of the Gulf Stream, the Loop Current is a warm ocean current in the Gulf of Mexico that flows northward between Cuba and the Yucat?n peninsula, moves north into the Gulf of Mexico, loops west and south before exiting to the east through the Straits of Florida....
 and Eddy Vortex.

Lt. Col. Warren Madden, a Hurricane Hunter and meteorologist for The Weather Channel, recorded a peak wind gust of 235 mph (380 km/h) while flying in the eye of the storm, and called Rita "the strongest storm that I've ever been in." Rita's intense winds destroyed or disabled several buoy
Buoy

A buoy is a floating device that can have many different purposes. It can be anchored or allowed to drift. The word, of Old French or Middle Dutch origin, is now most commonly , although some orthoepy have traditionally prescribed the pronunciation ....
-based weather stations.

Rita made landfall between Sabine Pass, Texas
Sabine Pass, Texas

Sabine Pass is a neighborhood of Port Arthur, Texas, Texas, United States. It lies on the west bank of Sabine Pass, near the Louisiana border....
, and Johnson Bayou, Louisiana, at 02:38 CDT (07:38 UTC) on September 24, 2005 as a Category 3 Hurricane with winds at 115 mph. Rita lost both hurricane and tropical storm status the day of landfall. Rita's remnants — technically an extensive low pressure area — moved quickly out of the lower Mississippi Valley and were absorbed by a cold front. The Hydrometeorological Prediction Center
Hydrometeorological Prediction Center

The Hydrometeorological Prediction Center is one of nine Service Centers under the umbrella of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction , operating under the aegis of the National Weather Service, which in turn is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the U.S....
 ceased monitoring Tropical Depression Rita early on September 26.

Preparations


Louisiana

Before Rita, the mayor of New Orleans, Ray Nagin
Ray Nagin

Clarence Ray Nagin, Jr. is the mayor of New Orleans. He was first elected on March 2, 2002, to succeed his fellow Democratic Party , Marc Morial....
, had planned to begin reopening the city on September 19 after the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was the costliest Atlantic hurricane, as well as one of the five deadliest, in the history of the United States....
. However, as Rita developed in the Gulf of Mexico, the reopening was cancelled and a re-evacuation of the city was initiated on September 21 as the storm was initially forecast to make landfall much closer to the city. Although Rita remained well to the south and west of New Orleans, a pre-landfall storm surge
Storm surge

Storm surge is an offshore rise of water associated with a low pressure area weather system, typically a tropical cyclone. Storm surge is caused primarily by high winds pushing on the ocean's surface....
 overwhelmed a levee of the Industrial Canal protecting the Lower Ninth Ward
Lower Ninth Ward

Lower Ninth Ward is a New Orleans neighborhoods of the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. As the name implies, it is part of the Ninth Ward of New Orleans....
, a part of a fragile and already compromised levee system as repairs
Civil engineering and infrastructure repair in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina

Though Hurricane Katrina did not deal the city of New Orleans a direct hit on August 29, 2005, her storm surge precipitated catastrophic failures of the levees and flood walls....
 continued. At landfall, more parts of the levee wall were breached causing major reflooding in New Orleans. The original breaches had occurred a month earlier as a result of Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was the costliest Atlantic hurricane, as well as one of the five deadliest, in the history of the United States....
.

In addition, residents of Cameron Parish
Cameron Parish, Louisiana

Cameron Parish is the parish with the most land area in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Cameron, Louisiana and as of 2000, the population was 9,991....
, Calcasieu Parish
Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana

Calcasieu Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Lake Charles, Louisiana. As of 2000, the population was 183,577....
, and parts of Jefferson Davis Parish
Jefferson Davis Parish, Louisiana

Jefferson Davis Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Jennings, Louisiana. As of 2000, its population was 31,435....
, Acadia Parish
Acadia Parish, Louisiana

Acadia Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Crowley, Louisiana. In 2000, the population was 58,861. The parish was founded from parts of St....
, Iberia Parish, Beauregard Parish, and Vermillion Parish were told to evacuate ahead of the storm. Cameron Parish was hit the hardest with the towns of Creole, Cameron, Grand Chenier, Johnson's Bayou, and Holly Beach being totally demolished. Records around the Hackberry area show that wind gusts reach over 180 mph from a boat tied up to a dock. The people were told to evacuate by Thursday, September 22, 2005 by 6:00 pm. Two days later, parish officials returned to the Gibbstown Bridge that crosses the Intracoastal Canal into Lower Cameron Parish. Nobody was known to be left in the parish as of that time on Thursday, September 22, 2005. Almost 3 years later, the parish is nowhere near its prior population.

Texas

Rita Evacuees From Houston Texas September 21 2005
Texas Governor Rick Perry
Rick Perry

James Richard "Rick" Perry is a Republican Party politician and the current List of Governors of Texas.Elected Lieutenant Governor of Texas in 1998, he assumed office as governor in December 2000 when Governor George W....
 recalled all emergency personnel, including almost 1,200 Texas National Guard
Texas National Guard

The Texas National Guard consists of the:*Texas Army National Guard*Texas Air National GuardThe Guard is administered by the adjutant general, an appointee of the governor of Texas....
 and 1,100 Texas State Guard
Texas State Guard

The Texas State Guard is one of three branches of the State Military Forces of Texas, reporting to The State Adjutant General and under the command of the Governor....
 members from Katrina
Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was the costliest Atlantic hurricane, as well as one of the five deadliest, in the history of the United States....
 recovery efforts, and several hundred Texas Game Wardens in anticipation of Hurricane Rita's arrival. In addition, the Federal Government responded by deploying 11 Disaster Medical Assistance Teams (DMATs) , mobile field hospitals, to stage across eastern Texas. The teams treated 7500 patients during the response.

On September 22, Governor Perry and the Texas Department of Transportation implemented a contraflow lane reversal
Contraflow lane reversal

Contraflow lane reversal is used to refer to plans that alter the normal flow of traffic, typically on a controlled-access highway such as a freeway or motorway, to either aid in an emergency evacuation or, as part of routine maintenance activities, to facilitate widening or reconstruction of one of the highway's carriageways ....
 on Interstate 45
Interstate 45

Interstate 45 is an Interstate Highway located entirely within the U.S. state of Texas. It connects the cities of Dallas, TX and Houston, TX, continuing southeast from Houston to Galveston, TX on the Gulf of Mexico....
 north towards Dallas
Dallas, Texas

Dallas is the third largest city in the state of Texas and the List of United States cities by population in the United States.The city, with a population of over 1.3 million, is the main economic center of the 12-county Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex which contains 6.1 million people, and is the fourth-largest United States metropolitan area...
, on Interstate 10
Interstate 10

Interstate 10 is the southernmost east-west, coast-to-coast Interstate Highway in the United States. It stretches from the Pacific Ocean at California State Route 1 in Santa Monica, California, California to Interstate 95 in Florida in Jacksonville, Florida, Florida....
 west towards San Antonio
San Antonio, Texas

San Antonio is the second-largest city in the state of Texas and the List of United States cities by population. Located in , the city is a cultural and geographical gateway into the ....
, U.S. Highway 290 northwest to Austin
Austin, Texas

Austin is the capital of the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Travis County, Texas. Situated in Central Texas and part of the Southwestern United States, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 16th-largest in the United States....
.

Officials in Galveston County
Galveston County, Texas

Galveston County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas within the Greater Houston metropolitan area. As of the 2007 U.S. Census estimate, the population was 283,987....
 (which includes the city of Galveston
Galveston, Texas

Galveston is a city in and county seat of Galveston County, Texas located on Galveston Island on the Gulf Coast of the United States in the U.S....
), which was devastated by the Galveston Hurricane of 1900
Galveston Hurricane of 1900

The Hurricane of 1900 made Landfall on the city of Galveston, Texas, Texas on September 8, 1900. . ; .It had estimated winds of 135 miles per hour at landfall, making it a Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale#Category 4 storm on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale....
, ordered mandatory evacuations, effective September 21 at 6 p.m., in a staggered sequence setting different zones in the area which were due to leave at different times over 24 hours, well in advance of the storm's possible landfall later in the week but not enough in advance to ensure that all residents could evacuate safely in advance of the storm.

Nonetheless, many residents remained in the county because they were either unaware of the danger of the storm or believed that it was more important to protect their belongings, particularly in the wake of looting following Hurricane Katrina.

The evacuation included transfer of all inpatients from the University of Texas Medical Branch hospital to other regional hospitals.

400 patients were prisoners under the ward of the Texas Department of Corrections.

These patients were systematically transferred to the University of Texas Health Center at Tyler.

Officials of Harris County hoped that the designation of zones A, B, and C would be able to prevent bottlenecks leaving the area such as those seen out of New Orleans prior to Katrina
Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was the costliest Atlantic hurricane, as well as one of the five deadliest, in the history of the United States....
 and Hurricane Dennis
Hurricane Dennis

Hurricane Dennis was an early-forming major hurricane in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico during the very active 2005 Atlantic hurricane season....
 earlier that year.

Also, different zones were to be forced to go to certain cities in Texas and were not allowed to exit their designated routes except for food and gas - another feature of the evacuation plan which hoped to keep traffic and flow orderly throughout this timeframe.

These evacuation-destination cities included Austin
Austin, Texas

Austin is the capital of the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Travis County, Texas. Situated in Central Texas and part of the Southwestern United States, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 16th-largest in the United States....
, College Station
College Station, Texas

College Station is a city in Brazos County, Texas, Texas, situated in Central Texas in the heart of the Brazos Valley. The city is located within the most populated region of Texas, near three of the 10 List of United States cities by population#Largest cities in the United States - Houston, Texas, Dallas, Texas, and San Antonio, Texas....
, San Antonio
San Antonio, Texas

San Antonio is the second-largest city in the state of Texas and the List of United States cities by population. Located in , the city is a cultural and geographical gateway into the ....
, Dallas
Dallas, Texas

Dallas is the third largest city in the state of Texas and the List of United States cities by population in the United States.The city, with a population of over 1.3 million, is the main economic center of the 12-county Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex which contains 6.1 million people, and is the fourth-largest United States metropolitan area...
, Huntsville
Huntsville, Texas

Huntsville is a city in and the county seat of Walker County, Texas, Texas, United States. The population was 35,078 at the United States Census, 2000....
, and Lufkin
Lufkin, Texas

Lufkin is a city in Angelina County, Texas, Texas, United States. The population was 32,709 at the 2000 census making Lufkin the 76th largest city in Texas....
, Texas. Evacuees were asked to try hotels in the Midland
Midland, Texas

Midland is a city in and the county seat of Midland County, Texas, located on the Great Plains of the western area of the U.S. state of Texas. A small portion of the city extends into Martin County, Texas....
/Odessa
Odessa, Texas

Odessa is a city in Ector County, Texas and Midland County, Texas counties in the U.S. state of Texas. It is located primarily in Ector County, of which it is the county seat....
 area when hotels began to sell out in other areas.

Dsc 0064
On Wednesday, Houston mayor Bill White urged residents to evacuate the city, telling residents, "Don't wait; the time for waiting is over," reminding residents of the disaster in New Orleans.

After heavy traffic snarled roads leading out of town and gas shortages left numerous vehicles stranded, he backed off his earlier statement with, "If you're not in the evacuation zone, follow the news," advising people to use common sense. However by 3:00 p.m. that afternoon, the freeway system in Houston was at a stand-still.

To the east of Houston, officials had set up evacuation routes in response to the slow evacuation of residents prior to Hurricane Lili
Hurricane Lili

Hurricane Lili was the deadliest and costliest hurricane of the 2002 Atlantic hurricane season. Lili was the twelfth named storm, fourth hurricane, and second major hurricane of the 2002 Atlantic hurricane season....
. During the Rita evacuation these preparations and their execution were overwhelmed by the enormous and unprecedented number of people fleeing from the Houston area prior to the local residents. By the time Jefferson County began their mandatory evacuation, local roads were already full of Houstonians.

Designated evacuation routes slowed to a pace far worse than with any previous hurricane.

By late Thursday (22nd) morning, the contraflow lanes had been ordered after it was determined that the state's highway system had become gridlock
Gridlock

Gridlock is a term describing an inability to move on a transport network. The term originates from a situation possible in a grid network where intersections are blocked, prohibiting vehicles from moving through the intersection or backing up to an upstream intersection....
ed.

The Texas Department of Transportation was unprepared to execute such a large-scale evacuation.

Coordination and implementation of the contraflow plan took 8 to 10 hours as inbound traffic was forced to exit and police were stationed to assist with traffic flow. Evacuees fought traffic Wednesday afternoon through mid-day Friday, moving only a fraction of the normal distance expected. Average travel times to Dallas were 24-36 hours, travel times to Austin were 12-18 hours and travel times to San Antonio were 10-16 hours, depending on the point of departure in Houston.

Many motorists ran out of gas or experienced breakdowns in temperatures that neared 100 °F (38 °C). Traffic volumes did not ease for nearly 48 hours as more than three million residents evacuated the area in advance of the storm. This was the largest evacuation in U.S. history.

As part of the evacuation, Johnson Space Center in Houston handed off control of the International Space Station
International Space Station

The International Space Station is a research facility Assembly of the International Space Station in outer space. On-orbit construction of the station began in 1998, and is scheduled to be complete by 2011, with operations continuing until around 2015....
 to their Russian
Russian Federal Space Agency

The Russian Federal Space Agency , RKA, or RSA, formerly the Russian Aviation and Space Agency , is the government agency responsible for Russia's space science programme and general aerospace research....
 counterparts.

Concerns had been raised over the state of the oil industry in response to Rita. The storm threatened a large amount of oil infrastructure that was left undamaged by Katrina
Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was the costliest Atlantic hurricane, as well as one of the five deadliest, in the history of the United States....
. The Texas Gulf Coast is home to 23% of the United States' refining capacity, and numerous offshore production platforms were in Rita's path. A direct strike on Houston could disable more than a quarter of the United States' fuel-making capacity.

Valero Energy Corp, the nation's largest refiner, stated on September 21 that Rita could have caused gasoline prices to rise well above $
United States dollar

The United States dollar is the unit of currency of the United States and was defined by the Coinage Act of 1792 to be between 371 and 416 grains of silver ....
3 per US gallon
Gallon

A gallon is a measure of volume of approximately four litres. Historically it has had many different definitions, but there are three definitions in current use....
 ($0.79/L), at a time when the U.S. average price was $2.77/gal.

Impact

Rita2005filledrainblk
In some areas, the effects of Hurricane Rita were not nearly as severe as anticipated. The storm surge
Storm surge

Storm surge is an offshore rise of water associated with a low pressure area weather system, typically a tropical cyclone. Storm surge is caused primarily by high winds pushing on the ocean's surface....
 feared in Galveston and Houston struck farther east as the storm's center came ashore at the Louisiana border; winds blowing offshore in Texas actually flattened the surge, which was only seven feet (2 m), well below the height of the Galveston seawall
Seawall

A seawall is a form of hard and strong coastal defense constructed on the inland part of a coast to reduce the effects of strong waves.In the UK, "sea wall" also refers to an earthen bank used to create a polder?a dike ....
. The five inches (130 mm) of rain expected to fall overnight in New Orleans also did not happen, and the pressure on the levee system was eased. Still, storm surge of 15-20 feet (4.5-6.1 m) struck southwestern Louisiana, and coastal parishes experienced extensive damage. In Cameron Parish
Cameron Parish, Louisiana

Cameron Parish is the parish with the most land area in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Cameron, Louisiana and as of 2000, the population was 9,991....
 the communities of Holly Beach
Holly Beach, Louisiana

Holly Beach , also known as the "Cajun Riviera" , is an coastal community in unincorporated area Cameron Parish, Louisiana, Louisiana, United States....
, Hackberry
Hackberry, Louisiana

Hackberry is a census-designated place in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, Louisiana, United States. The population was 1,699 at the 2000 United States Census....
, Cameron
Cameron, Louisiana

Cameron is a census-designated place in and the parish seat of Cameron Parish, Louisiana, Louisiana, United States. The population was 1,965 at the 2000 United States Census....
, Creole and Grand Chenier were essentially destroyed. In Calcasieu Parish
Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana

Calcasieu Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Lake Charles, Louisiana. As of 2000, the population was 183,577....
 the communities of Lake Charles
Lake Charles, Louisiana

Lake Charles is the fifth largest incorporated city in the US state of Louisiana.It is the major cultural and educational center in the southwest region of the state and one of the most important in Acadiana....
, Moss Bluff
Moss Bluff, Louisiana

Moss Bluff is a census-designated place in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, Louisiana, United States. The population was 10,535 at the 2000 United States Census....
, Sulphur
Sulphur, Louisiana

Sulphur is a city in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, Louisiana, United States. The population was 22,512 at the 2000 United States Census. It is part of the Lake Charles, Louisiana Lake Charles metropolitan area....
, Westlake
Westlake, Louisiana

Westlake is a city in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, Louisiana, United States. The population was 4,668 at the 2000 United States Census. It is part of the Lake Charles, Louisiana Lake Charles metropolitan area....
, Vinton
Vinton, Louisiana

Vinton is a town in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, Louisiana, United States. The population was 3,338 at the 2000 United States Census. It is part of the Lake Charles, Louisiana Lake Charles metropolitan area....
 and DeQuincy
DeQuincy, Louisiana

DeQuincy is the northernmost city in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, Louisiana, United States. The population was 3,398 at the U.S. Census, 2000. DeQuincy is part of the Lake Charles, Louisiana Lake Charles metropolitan area....
 also suffered heavy damage. In Beauregard Parish
Beauregard Parish, Louisiana

Beauregard Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is DeRidder, Louisiana. As of 2000, the population was 32,986....
 the communities of DeRidder and Merryville
Merryville, Louisiana

Merryville is a town in Beauregard Parish, Louisiana, Louisiana, United States. The population was 1,126 at the 2000 United States Census. It is part of the DeRidder, Louisiana Micropolitan Statistical Area....
 also suffered heavy damage.

It is estimated that two million people lost electricity
Electricity

Electricity is a general term that encompasses a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena such as lightning and static electricity, but in addition, less familiar concepts such as the electromagnetic field and electromagnetic induction....
. Total damage is estimated at approximately $10 billion, making Rita the ninth-costliest storm in U.S. history.

Following Rita, gas prices fell in the U.S instead of rising as feared.

Deaths

State State total County/Parish Reported
deaths
Direct
deaths
Florida
Florida

Florida is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the northeast....
2 Escambia
Escambia County, Florida

Escambia County is the westernmost county in the U.S. state of Florida. The 2000 population was 294,210. The United States Census Bureau 2005 estimate for the county is 296,772....
1 1
Walton
Walton County, Florida

Walton County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida. As of 2000, the population was 40,601. The United States Census Bureau 2005 estimate for the county is 50,324 ....
1 1
Louisiana
Louisiana

The State of Louisiana is a U.S. state located in the U.S. Southern States of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans....
1 Calcasieu
Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana

Calcasieu Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Lake Charles, Louisiana. As of 2000, the population was 183,577....
1 1
Mississippi
Mississippi

Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Deep South of the United States. Jackson, Mississippi is the state capital and largest city. The state's name comes from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, and takes its name from the Anishinaabe language word misi-ziibi ....
4 Humphreys
Humphreys County, Mississippi

Humphreys County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi, in the Mississippi Delta region. In 2000, the population was 11,206. Its county seat is Belzoni, Mississippi....
1 1
Pike
Pike County, Mississippi

Pike County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of 2000, the population was 38,940. The county seat is Magnolia, Mississippi....
3 0
Texas
Texas

Texas is a U.S. state located in the South Central United States, nicknamed the Lone Star State. Texas is the second largest U.S. state in both area and population, spanning , and with a growing population of 24.3 million residents....
113 Angelina
Angelina County, Texas

Angelina County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. Angelina County was formed in 1846 from Nacogdoches County, Texas. As of 2000, the population was 80,130....
2 1
Dallas
Dallas County, Texas

Dallas County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas within the Dallas?Fort Worth Metroplex . As of 2007, the county had an estimated population of 2,366,511 and is now the County statistics of the United States in the United States....
23 0
Galveston
Galveston County, Texas

Galveston County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas within the Greater Houston metropolitan area. As of the 2007 U.S. Census estimate, the population was 283,987....
36 0
Harris
Harris County, Texas

Harris County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas within the Greater Houston metropolitan area. As of 2000 U.S. Census, the county had a population of 3,400,578 , making it the most populous county in Texas and the List of the most populous counties in the United States in the United States....
35 0
Jefferson
Jefferson County, Texas

Jefferson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas, United States. As of 2000, the population was 252,051. Its county seat is Beaumont, Texas, and it is named for the former President of the United States, Thomas Jefferson....
6 0
Liberty
Liberty County, Texas

Liberty County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas within the Houston Metropolitan Area. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, the population was 70,154....
2 2
Montgomery
Montgomery County, Texas

Montgomery County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas within the Houston Metropolitan Area. The county was created by an act of the Congress of the Republic of Texas on December 14, 1837....
2 0
Shelby
Shelby County, Texas

Shelby County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2000, its population was 25,224. Its county seat is Center, Texas. The county is named for Isaac Shelby, a soldier in the American Revolutionary War....
1 0
Walker
Walker County, Texas

Walker County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2000, its population was 61,758. The 2006 Census estimate placed the county's population at 63,304....
5 0
Totals 120  1207
Because of differing sources, totals may not match.


The reported death toll by Rita was 120. Only seven were direct deaths. One was caused by a tornado spawned in the storm's outer bands, one was due to storm surge flooding and three others were caused by trees blown down in the storm. The two Florida deaths both occurred in rip current
Rip current

A rip current, or rip is a strong surface flow of water returning seaward from near the shore . Although rip currents would exist even without the tides, tides can make an existing rip much more dangerous?especially low tide....
s caused by Rita's distant waves.

Direct deaths indicate those caused by the direct effects of the winds
WINDS

WINDS , is a Japanese communication satellite. Launch was originally scheduled for 2007. The launch date was eventually set for 15 February 2008, however a problem detected in a second stage manoeuvring thruster delayed it to 23 February....
, flood
Flood

A flood is an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land, a deluge. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide....
ing, tornadoes, storm surge
Storm surge

Storm surge is an offshore rise of water associated with a low pressure area weather system, typically a tropical cyclone. Storm surge is caused primarily by high winds pushing on the ocean's surface....
 or ocean
Ocean

An ocean is a major body of Seawater, and a principal component of the hydrosphere. Approximately 71% of the Earth's surface is covered by ocean, a World Ocean that is customarily divided into several principal oceans and smaller seas....
ic effects of Rita. Indirect deaths indicate those caused by hurricane-related accidents (including car
Automobile

An automobile or motor car is a wheeled motor vehicle for transportation passengers, which also carries its own car engine or motor. Most definitions of the term specify that automobiles are designed to run primarily on roads, to have seating for one to eight people, to typically have four wheels, and to be constructed principally f...
 accidents, crime
Crime

Societies define Crime as the breach of one or more rules or laws for which some Government or force may ultimately prescribe a punishment.The word crime originates from the Latin crimen , from the Latin root cerno and Greek ????? = "I judge"....
s, fire
Fire

Fire is the oxidation of a combustion material releasing heat, light, and various Chemical reaction products such as carbon dioxide and water....
s or other incidents), cleanup and evacuation incidents and health issues (such as poisoning
Poisoning

Poisoning may mean:*For biology toxicity, see toxin and poison* Catalyst poisoning* Nuclear poison* Chinese_food_therapy#Cantonese_classification_of_food, a classification in Cantonese food...
, illness
Illness

Illness can be defined as a state of poor health.It is sometimes considered a synonym for disease. Others maintain that fine distinctions exist....
es, lack of emergency aid).

Arkansas

While Rita weakened to a tropical depression, the outer bands continued to spawn numerous tornadoes in Arkansas, including one in Lonoke County
Lonoke County, Arkansas

Lonoke County is a County located in the U.S. state of Arkansas. Its population was 52,828 at the United States Census, 2000. The county seat is at Lonoke, Arkansas, while Cabot, Arkansas is the largest city in the county....
 and another in Conway County
Conway County, Arkansas

Conway County is a county located in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of 2000, the population was 20,336. The county seat is Morrilton, Arkansas....
, damaging many homes and businesses in several communities. In addition, significant flooding was reported in several areas.

The tornadoes were unusual in that they moved in a northwestern direction due to the direction in which Rita was moving. Most tornadoes move northeast.

No deaths caused by Rita were reported in Arkansas.

South Florida and Cuba

More than 340,000 people were under voluntary or mandatory evacuation orders in Florida
Florida

Florida is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the northeast....
 and Cuba
Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is a country in the Caribbean. It consists of the island of Cuba , the island of Isla de la Juventud, and several adjacent small islands....
. Storm surge flood
Flood

A flood is an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land, a deluge. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide....
ing was reported along the low-lying Florida Keys
Florida Keys

The Florida Keys are an archipelago of about 1700 islands in the southeast United States. They begin at the southeastern tip of the Florida peninsula, about south of Miami, Florida, and extend in a gentle arc south-southwest and then westward to Key West, Florida, the westernmost of the inhabited islands, and on to the uninhabited Dry Tort...
. The Overseas Highway
Overseas Highway

The Overseas Highway is a long road carrying U.S. Route 1 through the Florida Keys. Large parts of it were built on the former Right-of-way of the Overseas Railroad, the Key West, Florida Extension of the Florida East Coast Railway....
 (U.S. 1) connecting the islands was flooded and impassable in some sections. At 8 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, September 20, about 25,000 customers in Broward
Broward County, Florida

Broward County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida. As of 2000, the population is 1,623,018; this makes it the second most populated county in the state....
 and Miami-Dade
Miami-Dade County, Florida

Miami-Dade County is a county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida. The United States Census Bureau estimates that the county population was 2,387,170 in 2007, making it the most populous county in Florida and the List of the most populous counties in the United States....
 and 2,100 in the Keys were without electricity
Electricity

Electricity is a general term that encompasses a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena such as lightning and static electricity, but in addition, less familiar concepts such as the electromagnetic field and electromagnetic induction....
.

A state of emergency
State of emergency

A state of emergency is a governmental declaration that may suspend certain normal functions of government, alert citizens to alter their normal behaviors, or order government agencies to implement emergency preparedness plans....
 was declared by Florida Governor Jeb Bush
Jeb Bush

John Ellis "Jeb" Bush is an United States politician and was the 43rd List of Governors of Florida Florida. He is a prominent member of the Bush family: the younger brother of former President of the United States of America George W....
 and a federal emergency by President
President of the United States

The President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in the United States by influence and recognition....
 George W. Bush
George W. Bush

George Walker Bush served as the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States from 2001 to 2009. He was the 46th List of Governors of Texas from 1995 to 2000 before being United States presidential inauguration as President on January 20, 2001....
 in four counties: Broward, Collier
Collier County, Florida

Collier County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida. As of 2000, the population was 251,377. The United States Census Bureau 2006 estimate for the county is 314,649 ....
, Miami-Dade and Monroe
Monroe County, Florida

Monroe County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida. As of 2000, the population was 79,589. The United States Census Bureau 2006 estimate for the county was 74,737....
. More than 2,000 National Guard
United States National Guard

The National Guard of the United States is a Military reserve force composed of U.S. state National Guard militia members or units under federally recognized active or inactive Military of the United States service for the United States ....
 troops and dozens of law enforcement officers were brought in. In 2006, during the 17th season of The Real World
The Real World

The Real World is a reality television program on MTV originally produced by Mary-Ellis Bunim and Jonathan Murray. First broadcast in 1992, the show is the longest-running program in MTV history....
, entitled Key West
The Real World

The Real World is a reality television program on MTV originally produced by Mary-Ellis Bunim and Jonathan Murray. First broadcast in 1992, the show is the longest-running program in MTV history....
 the cast was shown evacuating out of their Key West
Key West

Key West is an island in the Straits of Florida on the North American continent at the southernmost tip of the Florida Keys.Key West is politically within the limits of the city of Key West, Florida, Monroe County, Florida, Florida, United States....
 home to Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Fort Lauderdale, known as the "Venice of America" due to its expansive and intricate canal system, is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States....
. This was the second hurricane that seasons cast had to evacuated from. The other two hurricanes they had to evacuate from was Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was the costliest Atlantic hurricane, as well as one of the five deadliest, in the history of the United States....
 and Hurricane Wilma
Hurricane Wilma

Hurricane Wilma was the most intense tropical cyclone ever recorded in the Atlantic basin. Wilma was the twenty-second tropical cyclone , thirteenth tropical cyclone, sixth major hurricane, and fourth Saffir-Simpson Scale hurricane of the record-breaking 2005 Atlantic hurricane season ...
.

No deaths were reported in either Florida
Florida

Florida is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the northeast....
 or Cuba
Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is a country in the Caribbean. It consists of the island of Cuba , the island of Isla de la Juventud, and several adjacent small islands....
 from the initial impact.

Florida Panhandle

While the Florida Panhandle
Florida Panhandle

The Florida Panhandle is the region of the state of Florida which includes the westernmost 16 List of counties in Florida in the state. It is a narrow strip lying between Alabama on the north and the west, Georgia also on the north, and the Gulf of Mexico to the south....
 escaped most of the land effects from Rita, two deaths were reported on beaches. Both were due to high surf and rip currents caused by Rita's distant waves.

Louisiana

Hurricane Rita Chair
New Orleans's levee
Levee

A levee, lev?e, dike , embankment, floodbank or stopbank is a natural or artificial slope or wall to regulate water levels....
 system had already sustained heavy damage from Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was the costliest Atlantic hurricane, as well as one of the five deadliest, in the history of the United States....
 before Rita's outer bands of rain fell on the city. On Friday, September 23, the day before landfall, rising water due to Hurricane Rita poured through breaches in the patched Industrial Canal
Industrial Canal

The Industrial Canal is a 5.5 mile waterway in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. The waterway's proper name, as used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and on NOAA nautical charts, is Inner Harbor Navigation Canal ....
 levee in New Orleans' devastated Ninth Ward, as reported by the Army Corps of Engineers. Water entered the Ninth Ward over two 32-foot (10 m) wide patches in the levee as of about 9 a.m. CDT on Friday, September 23. Water in the Ninth Ward was reported to be waist-deep at 11 a.m. CDT on Friday. By approximately 5 p.m. CDT, water had begun gushing through another patch in the London Avenue Canal
London Avenue Canal

The London Avenue Canal is a drainage canal in New Orleans, Louisiana, used for pumping rain water into Lake Pontchartrain. The Canal runs through the 7th Ward of New Orleans from the Gentilly area to the Lakefront....
 into the surrounding Gentilly neighborhood. Some pumping stations were abandoned. By Saturday night, September 24, water from a 150-foot gap in the Industrial Canal levee flooded some areas of the Ninth Ward to eight feet deep. Damage in southwestern Louisiana was extensive. In Cameron Parish, the communities of Hackberry
Hackberry, Louisiana

Hackberry is a census-designated place in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, Louisiana, United States. The population was 1,699 at the 2000 United States Census....
 , Cameron, Creole, Grand Chenier, Holly Beach
Holly Beach, Louisiana

Holly Beach , also known as the "Cajun Riviera" , is an coastal community in unincorporated area Cameron Parish, Louisiana, Louisiana, United States....
, and Johnson Bayou were heavily damaged or entirely destroyed. A casino
Casino

A casino is, in the modern sense of the word, a facility that houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships and other tourist attractions....
 boat and several barges were floating loose in Lake Charles
Lake Charles, Louisiana

Lake Charles is the fifth largest incorporated city in the US state of Louisiana.It is the major cultural and educational center in the southwest region of the state and one of the most important in Acadiana....
 and damaged a bridge spanning Interstate 10
Interstate 10

Interstate 10 is the southernmost east-west, coast-to-coast Interstate Highway in the United States. It stretches from the Pacific Ocean at California State Route 1 in Santa Monica, California, California to Interstate 95 in Florida in Jacksonville, Florida, Florida....
 across the Calcasieu River
Calcasieu River

The Calcasieu River is a river on the Gulf Coast of southwestern Louisiana, United States of America. Approximately 200 miles long, it drains a largely rural area of forests and bayou country, meandering southward to the Gulf of Mexico....
. Lake Charles experienced severe flood
Flood

A flood is an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land, a deluge. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide....
ing, with reports of water rising 6-8 feet in areas around Lake Calcasieu. At a hotel on the Contraband Bayou, water was reportedly up to the second floor. There was also extensive damage to its regional airport. Damage to the city's electrical system was so severe that authorities warned that power would not return for two weeks, if not longer.

In Vinton
Vinton, Louisiana

Vinton is a town in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, Louisiana, United States. The population was 3,338 at the 2000 United States Census. It is part of the Lake Charles, Louisiana Lake Charles metropolitan area....
, several fires burned, the roof was torn off the town's recreation center and many homes were damaged by fallen trees. Widespread flood
Flood

A flood is an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land, a deluge. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide....
ing was reported in coastal parish
Parish

A parish is a local church; it is an administrative unit typically found in Roman Catholic, Anglican, United Methodist, and Presbyterianism churches....
es. In Terrebonne Parish
Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana

Terrebonne Parish is a Parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Houma, Louisiana. Its population was 104,503 . It is the second largest parish in Louisiana in terms of land area....
, virtually every levee was breached. Some people were stranded in flood
Flood

A flood is an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land, a deluge. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide....
ed communities and had to be rescued by boat. At least 100 people were reported rescued from rooftops, as at least 25 more remained stranded.

Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco
Kathleen Blanco

Kathleen Babineaux Blanco is a former Democratic Party of the United States Governor of Louisiana, having served from January 2004 until January 2008....
 reported that 700,000 homes lost power in 41 of the state's 64 parishes
Parish (subnational entity)

A parish is an administrative division used by several country. In England and in the United States State of Louisiana, it is sometimes called a "civil parish" to distinguish it from the religious parish....
.

In Vermilion Parish south of Abbeville
Abbeville

Abbeville is a city in Picardie in northern France....
, rescue efforts were undertaken for up to 1,000 people stranded by local flooding. On Saturday, September 24, 250 people were rescued.

After being reduced to a tropical storm, Rita entered DeSoto and Caddo Parishes
Caddo Parish, Louisiana

Caddo Parish is a Parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Shreveport, Louisiana and as of 2000, the population was 252,161....
, the eye passed just west of Downtown Shreveport before crossing the Arkansas
Arkansas

Arkansas is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States of the United States. Arkansas shares a border with six states, with its eastern border largely defined by the Mississippi River....
 border. At the height of the storm over 175,000 people had lost power in the National Weather Service
National Weather Service

The National Weather Service , once known as the Weather Bureau, is one of the six scientific agencies that make up the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the United States Federal government of the United States....
 Shreveport's forecast area, mainly across Deep East Texas into northwest Louisiana. Two fatalities occurred in the Ark-La-Tex
Ark-La-Tex

The Ark-La-Tex, Arklatex, or ArkLaTex is a United States socio-economic Tri-state area where Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, and Oklahoma intersect....
. A tree fell on a person and the other fatality occurred when a teenager was electrocuted when picking up a "hot" power line. Shreveport recorded its 2nd lowest pressure ever recorded as the center of Rita moved through Shreveport around 6 pm Saturday evening. The pressure recorded was 29.05 inches (983.7 mb) which was only .01 inch higher than the lowest pressure on record of 29.04 inches back on February 27, 1902.

Mississippi

Several tornadoes from Rita's outer bands affected the state. At least 40 homes and an industrial plant were damaged and one person killed by a tornado in Humphreys County
Humphreys County, Mississippi

Humphreys County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi, in the Mississippi Delta region. In 2000, the population was 11,206. Its county seat is Belzoni, Mississippi....
 in central Mississippi. Another tornado (unconfirmed) was reported in Bolivar County
Bolivar County, Mississippi

Bolivar County is a county located in the Mississippi Delta region of the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of 2000, the population was 40,633. It is named in honor of Sim?n Bol?var, leader of the liberation of several South American countries from Spain in the early 19th century....
.

One death was reported in Wilkinson County
Wilkinson County, Mississippi

Wilkinson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of 2000, the population was 10,312. Its county seat is Woodville, Mississippi....
, although it has not been confirmed if it was storm-related.

A tornado touched down on Mississippi State University
Mississippi State University

Mississippi State University is a land-grant university located in north east-central Mississippi, United States, adjacent to the town of Starkville, Mississippi and is situated 125 miles northeast of Jackson, Mississippi and 23 miles west of Columbus, Mississippi....
's campus. MSU officials reported significant damage to some buildings. There were also numerous mobile homes damaged at the University Hills trailer park just off the campus. There were several non-life threatening injuries.

Lauderdale County in east central Mississippi reported several confirmed and unconfirmed tornado touch downs in and near the cities of Marion and Meridian, an area recovering from damage from Category 2 winds in Hurricane Katrina.

Texas

Hurricaneritaflooding Amo 20050925
On the morning of September 23, 23 people were killed when a bus
Bus

A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. A bus can generally seat a maximum of anywhere from 8 to 200 passengers; many more passengers than a minivan....
 carrying 45 nursing home evacuees from Brighton Gardens in Bellaire, Texas
Bellaire, Texas

Bellaire is a city in southwest Harris County, Texas, Texas, United States within the metropolitan area. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, the city population was 15,642 and is completely surrounded by the cities of Houston, Texas and West University Place, Texas....
 erupted into flames and exploded on Interstate 45
Interstate 45

Interstate 45 is an Interstate Highway located entirely within the U.S. state of Texas. It connects the cities of Dallas, TX and Houston, TX, continuing southeast from Houston to Galveston, TX on the Gulf of Mexico....
 in Wilmer
Wilmer, Texas

Wilmer is a city in Dallas County, Texas, Texas, United States. The population was 3,393 at the 2000 census.Union Pacific's Union Pacific Dallas Intermodal Terminal is located partly in the city of Wilmer and partly in the city of Hutchins, Texas ....
, southeast of Dallas
Dallas, Texas

Dallas is the third largest city in the state of Texas and the List of United States cities by population in the United States.The city, with a population of over 1.3 million, is the main economic center of the 12-county Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex which contains 6.1 million people, and is the fourth-largest United States metropolitan area...
. The fire started in the brake system, and the passengers' therapeutic oxygen
Oxygen

Oxygen no O2 produced; 2) O2 produced, but absorbed in oceans & seabed rock; 3) O2 starts to gas out of the oceans, but is absorbed by land surfaces and formation of ozone layer; 4-5) O2 sinks filled and the gas accumulates]]...
 tanks may have caused the bus to explode. Many of the passengers were mobility-impaired making escape difficult or impossible.

In the late evening, a fire broke out in the Strand District of Galveston, Texas
Galveston, Texas

Galveston is a city in and county seat of Galveston County, Texas located on Galveston Island on the Gulf Coast of the United States in the U.S....
, gutting several homes. However, the fire department
Fire department

A fire department is a public sector or private sector organization that provides fire protection for a certain jurisdiction, which typically is a municipality, county, or fire protection district....
 was able to fight the wind-whipped blaze and prevent it from spreading through the city. No serious injuries were reported in the fire. Around midnight, a vacant restaurant collapsed nearby, which was reportedly as a result of the fire that weakened the walls.

For the most part, Houston
Houston, Texas

Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States of America and the largest city within the state of Texas. As of the 2007 U.S. Census estimate, the city has a population of 2.2 million within an area of 600 square miles ....
 escaped major damage, apart from extensive loss of power. Some windows blew out of some downtown
Downtown Houston

Downtown Houston is the largest business district of Houston, Texas, United States.Downtown Houston contains the headquarters of many prominent companies....
 skyscrapers, and some trees and signals were down. Thirty one deaths have been reported in Harris County
Harris County, Texas

Harris County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas within the Greater Houston metropolitan area. As of 2000 U.S. Census, the county had a population of 3,400,578 , making it the most populous county in Texas and the List of the most populous counties in the United States in the United States....
, of which all of them were indirect (mostly related to the evacuation and cleanup).

The county of Jasper, Texas was also greatly affected. It is located near the Sabine River, near the Louisiana and Texas border. Jasper, known as the "Jewel of the Forest" lost many of its pine trees when Rita came through, leveling most of them down to the stump. Jasper county residents were running out of gas and many relied on the only news available at the time from Mike Lout, local radio station owner, who stayed on the air during the entire time of the storm. Many families lost their homes of many years, returning to see that they were crushed by one or more trees.

North of Houston, the 2.5-mile-wide Lake Livingston
Lake Livingston

Lake Livingston is a man-made reservoir located in the East Texas Piney Woods. Lake Livingston was built, is owned and is operated by the Trinity River Authority of Texas under contract with the City of Houston, Texas for water supply purposes....
 dam
Dam

A dam is a barrier that Reservoirs surface water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates, levees, and Dike are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions....
 sustained substantial damage from powerful waves driven by 117 mph winds and officials started an emergency release of water to lessen pressure on the dam. A number of news outlets reported on Sunday, September 25, 2005, that the discharge put lives at risk downstream and threatened a major bridge as well due to a sizable barge coming adrift. Repairs to the dam were expected to take months to complete. After water levels were lowered and an inspection was conducted by national and local experts, the dam was declared stable late on Monday, September 26, 2005.

Fellowshipchurch
Communities in the "Golden Triangle"
Southeast Texas

Southeast Texas is a subregion of East Texas located in the southeast corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The subregion is geographically centered around the Greater Houston and Beaumont-Port Arthur metropolitan area metropolitan areas....
 formed by Beaumont
Beaumont, Texas

Beaumont is a city in and the county seat of Jefferson County, Texas, Texas, United States, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur, Texas Beaumont?Port Arthur metropolitan area....
, Port Arthur
Port Arthur, Texas

Port Arthur is a city in Jefferson County, Texas within the Beaumont, Texas–Port Arthur Beaumont?Port Arthur metropolitan area of the U.S....
, and Orange
Orange, Texas

Orange is a city in Orange County, Texas, Texas, United States. As of the United States Census, 2000, the city population was 18,643. It is the county seat of Orange County, Texas, and is the easternmost city in Texas....
 sustained enormous wind damage. Texas Governor Rick Perry declared a nine-county disaster area. In Beaumont an estimated 25% of the trees in the heavily wooded neighborhoods were uprooted. In Groves
Groves, Texas

Groves is a city in Jefferson County, Texas, Texas, United States. The population was 15,733 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Beaumont, Texas–Port Arthur, Texas Beaumont?Port Arthur metropolitan area....
, the home of Texas's Pecan Festival, an equal number of the pecan trees were leveled. An enormous number of houses and businesses suffered extensive damage from wind and falling trees. The water treatment plant in Port Neches
Port Neches, Texas

Port Neches is a city in Jefferson County, Texas, Texas, United States. The population was 13,601 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Beaumont, Texas–Port Arthur, Texas Beaumont?Port Arthur metropolitan area....
 was heavily damaged. Some areas did not have power for more than six weeks. A mandatory evacuation had been issued before Rita's landfall. Those displaced by Rita were offered up to 60 days of hotel rooms, generators, chainsaws, and monetary assistance by FEMA. The "Golden Triangle" area was spared a more devastating storm surge by Rita's slight eastward turn just before landfall, which placed most of the coastal community to the left of the eye and in the storm's least-damaging quadrant. Rita's surge was contained by Port Arthur's extensive levee system. Bolivar Peninsula between Galveston
Galveston, Texas

Galveston is a city in and county seat of Galveston County, Texas located on Galveston Island on the Gulf Coast of the United States in the U.S....
 and Sabine Pass
Sabine Pass, Texas

Sabine Pass is a neighborhood of Port Arthur, Texas, Texas, United States. It lies on the west bank of Sabine Pass, near the Louisiana border....
 experienced only a small storm surge, in contrast to areas east of Rita's center where a 20-foot surge struck Louisiana's unprotected towns.

Aftermath


Economic effects

Hurricane Rita's Path At Landfall
The heavy concentration of oil infrastructure in the Gulf of Mexico makes hurricanes of Rita's intensity very problematic. Currently, very little spare crude oil capacity exists in the United States, and the Gulf of Mexico produces some 2 million barrels per day
Barrels per day

Barrel per day is a measurement used to describe the amount of crude oil produced or consumed by an entity in one day. For example, an oil field might produce 100,000 bpd, and a country might consume 1 million bpd....
 (300 ML) total, as well as having some 30% of the total refining capacity of the United States. Rita's path traveled through a dense area of offshore pipelines and oil platform
Oil platform

An offshore platform, often referred to as an oil platform or oil rig, is a large structure used to house workers and machinery needed to drill wells in the ocean bed, extract Petroleum and/or natural gas, process the produced fluids, and ship them to shore....
s, and on land to an area with large refineries. With over half of Gulf production still shut down in the wake of Katrina, some economists have stated that a worst case scenario is for gasoline prices to briefly touch $5/US gallon ($1.30/L), which would be easily the highest real price for gasoline paid in the United States during the internal combustion era. However the oil industry escaped essentially unscathed from the storm and post-storm predictions estimated only minor price rises. With some 200,000 jobless claims
Unemployment

File:World map of countries by rate of unemployment.pngUnemployment occurs when a person is available to work and currently seeking work, but the person is without Wage labour....
 attributed to Katrina, Rita may have been a further drag on a weakened US economy.

The most pessimistic projections had GDP growth cut by 1% on an annualized basis in the United States in the second half of 2005, with as many as 500,000 people made unemployed. Some economists argued that the rebuilding effort could buoy the economy in 2006, while others argued that the energy spike could decrease consumer confidence by enough to send the economy into a full-fledged recession
Recession

In economics, the term recession describes the reduction of a country's gross domestic product for at least two Calendar_year#Quarters. The usual dictionary definition is "a period of reduced economic activity", a business cycle contraction....
 when combined with the Federal Reserve's recent increases in interest rates. While the above did happen, it did not occur until 2008, over a year after Rita's impact.

Due to the impending oil shortage and increasing gas prices, Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue
Sonny Perdue

George Ervin "Sonny" Perdue III is the List of Governors of Georgia of the U.S. state of Georgia . Upon his inauguration in January 2003, he became the first United States Republican Party governor of Georgia since Benjamin F....
 declared what he termed "snow days," closing all Georgia public primary and secondary schools on September 26 and 27 to conserve fuel for buses.

Military relief operations

On September 24, 2005, following the havoc caused by Hurricanes Katrina
Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was the costliest Atlantic hurricane, as well as one of the five deadliest, in the history of the United States....
 and Rita, the National Guard
United States National Guard

The National Guard of the United States is a Military reserve force composed of U.S. state National Guard militia members or units under federally recognized active or inactive Military of the United States service for the United States ....
 named Brig. Gen. Douglas Pritt of the 41st Brigade Combat Team
41st Brigade Combat Team

The 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team is an element in the Oregon United States Army Army National Guard. Headquartered in Tigard, Oregon, it was part of the 7th Infantry Division based at Fort Carson in Colorado ....
, Oregon
Oregon

Oregon is a U.S. state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The area was inhabited by many indigenous tribes before the arrival of traders, explorers and settlers....
 Army
United States Army

The United States Army is the branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for Army operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S....
 National Guard, head of Joint Task Force Rita (formally called JTF Ponchartrain). The 1,400 Oregonian soldiers and airmen, including the 1st Battalion of the 186th Infantry which is designated a quick response unit, are joined by engineers and military police
Military police

Military police are normally the police of a military organization.Military police may refer to:* a section of the military solely responsible for policing the armed forces ...
 from Louisiana, a Stryker
Stryker

The IAV Stryker is a family of eight-wheeled all wheel drive armored combat vehicles produced by General Dynamics Land Systems, in use by the United States Army....
 brigade from Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania , often colloquially referred to as PA by natives and Northeasterners, is a U.S. state located in the Northeastern United States and Mid-Atlantic States regions of the United States....
, and an engineering battalion from Missouri
Missouri

Missouri is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States of the United States bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska....
. It is their mission to provide relief support for all of the areas in Texas and Louisiana affected by the two storms and to remove obstructions that might otherwise hinder help to those affected.

Post-Rita Deaths

Due largely to what many have called the largest two day evacuation in the country's history, many people died in the weeks following Rita's passing. The stress brought on by 98 degree heat in cars that were forced to turn off their air conditioners on the gridlocked highways was intense and the elderly in particular developed a large number of health problems in the weeks following the storm. For weeks funeral homes in the Beaumont area were unable to respond to the large number of requests by family members to retrieve the bodies of their loved ones to the north. These deaths are not currently counted as officially caused by the hurricane.

American Red Cross operations

The American Red Cross continued to provide disaster relief to Hurricane Katrina affected areas, but as a result of Hurricane Rita, had to open additional shelters in other gulf states
Gulf Coast of the United States

The Gulf Coast region of the United States comprises the coasts of states which border the Gulf of Mexico. The states of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida are known as the Gulf States....
. The Red Cross also expanded their Hurricane Katrina internet "Safe List" for use by those affected by Hurricane Rita.

AmeriCorps relief operations

AmeriCorps
AmeriCorps

AmeriCorps is a United States Government partnering with non-profit organizations, public agencies, and faith-based organizations that was created under President Bill Clinton by the National and...
 sent several crews to Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana in response to Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was the costliest Atlantic hurricane, as well as one of the five deadliest, in the history of the United States....
 and Hurricane Rita. The crews originated from two main organizations, the National Civilian Community Corps
National Civilian Community Corps

National Civilian Community Corps , or AmeriCorps*NCCC is an AmeriCorps program that engages 18-24 year olds in team based National and Community Service in the United States....
 (NCCC) and the Washington Conservation Corps (WCC), as well as from smaller Americorps organizations such as Americorps St. Louis' Emergency Response Team (ERT). The crews performed a number of relief tasks for hurricane survivors, including support on the FEMA/Carnival Cruise Lines
Carnival Cruise Lines

Carnival Cruise Lines is a cruise line operating a large number of cruise ships. Originally an independent company founded in 1972 by Ted Arison, it is now a branded division within Carnival Corporation & plc, a publicly traded company which owns a number of different cruise brands....
 shelter ship, tarping damaged roofs, and debris removal. As of the beginning of 2006, AmeriCorps teams have been involved in the rebuilding efforts in Louisiana and Mississippi. Teams have also operated volunteer camps like Camp Premier as well as assisted with the Made with Love cafe. As of May 2006, AmeriCorps reported that it would continue to send relief to affected areas.

Retirement

The name Rita was retired in the spring of 2006 and will never be used again for an Atlantic hurricane
Atlantic hurricane

North Atlantic tropical cyclones usually form in summer or autumn. Tropical cyclones can be broken down by intensity. Tropical storms have one-minute maximum sustained winds of at least 39 mph , while hurricanes have one-minute maximum sustained exceeding 74 mph ....
. It was replaced by Rina for the 2011 Atlantic hurricane season's list.

Records

The use of the name "Rita" reflects the record-breaking activity of the 2005 hurricane season: only once before had a name starting with "R
R

R is the eighteenth letter of the modern Latin alphabet. Its name in English language is spelled ar ....
" (the seventeenth name in the list each season) been used for an Atlantic storm, in 1995
1995 Atlantic hurricane season

The 1995 Atlantic hurricane season officially began on June 1, 1995, and lasted until November 30, 1995. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the Atlantic basin....
 for Hurricane Roxanne
Hurricane Roxanne

Hurricane Roxanne was the seventeenth storm, tenth hurricane, and the fifth and final major hurricane of the very active 1995 Atlantic hurricane season....
. The formation of Rita actually marked the third time that seventeen storms had formed in a season since tropical storm naming began in 1950. However, in the 1969 season
1969 Atlantic hurricane season

The 1969 Atlantic hurricane season officially began on June 1, 1969, and lasted until November 30, 1969. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the Atlantic basin....
, under less-sophisticated forecasting systems, many tropical storms were not named; the seventeenth storm of 1969 was named Hurricane Martha
1969 Atlantic hurricane season

The 1969 Atlantic hurricane season officially began on June 1, 1969, and lasted until November 30, 1969. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the Atlantic basin....
.

Other records set by Rita:
  • Earliest 17th named storm in Atlantic hurricane season
  • Fourth most-intense storm in Atlantic basin
  • Greatest one-hour pressure drop in Atlantic basin
  • Most intense hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico (breaking record set by Hurricane Katrina
    Hurricane Katrina

    Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was the costliest Atlantic hurricane, as well as one of the five deadliest, in the history of the United States....
     only three weeks earlier)
  • When Rita reached Category 5 strength on the 21st of September, it was the 3rd Category 5 hurricane that year, making 2005 the only year with more than two Category 5 hurricanes


See also

  • Hurricane Katrina
    Hurricane Katrina

    Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was the costliest Atlantic hurricane, as well as one of the five deadliest, in the history of the United States....
  • List of tropical cyclones
  • List of Atlantic hurricanes
  • List of Category 5 Atlantic hurricanes
    List of Category 5 Atlantic hurricanes

    This is a list of all recorded Atlantic hurricanes that have reached Category 5, the highest classification of tropical cyclone intensity on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale....
  • List of 2005 Atlantic hurricane season storms
  • FEMA Trailer
    FEMA trailer

    The term FEMA trailer,or FEMA travel trailer,is the name commonly given by the United States Government to many forms of temporary manufactured housing assigned to the victims of Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita by the Federal Emergency Management Agency ....
  • Timeline of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season
    Timeline of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season

    The timeline of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season documents the formations, strengthenings, weakenings, landfall , Extratropical cyclone#Extratropical transition, and dissipations of the season's tropical and subtropical storms....


External links


  • The NHC's
  • The HPC's
  • The HPC's
  • , from
  • - Real-time damage estimates
  • The Oil Drum: Rita Oil and Gas Resources
  • Preserving the Stories of Katrina, Rita, and Wilma