Hurricane Rita May Hit The Gulf As A Category 5 Hurricane
Sept. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Hurricane Rita strengthened en route to the Gulf of Mexico, heading on a path that may threaten the Texas coast and parts of Louisiana devastated by Katrina three weeks earlier.
Rita, a so-called Category 2 storm with 100 mph (166 kph) winds, is moving into the Gulf's warm waters, where it will strengthen in the next few days, the National Hurricane Center said. Rita may reach Category 4 or Category 5, with winds from 131 mph to more than 155 mph, by the time it reaches the Texas coastline this weekend, the center said.
While Rita is forecast to land anywhere from Corpus Christi to Galveston in Texas, it may veer east and strike Louisiana's coast, the center said. The threat to the region devastated by Katrina prompted New Orleans's mayor to halt plans for residents to return and Texas officials to call for some evacuations.
``We are urging all residents from south Texas to Louisiana to keep watch,'' center meteorologist Robbie Berg said.
Rita, the ninth hurricane of the season, was about 50 miles (80 kilometers) south-southwest of Key West, Florida, as of 5 p.m. local time, the center said. The storm is moving west at about 15 mph (24 kph).
Galveston Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas said she may order mandatory evacuations from the city of about 60,000 as soon as tomorrow. Galveston, about 50 miles southeast of Houston, is the site of the worst natural disaster in U.S. history, a hurricane that killed 8,000 to 12,000 in 1900.
Texas Prepares
Neighboring Brazoria County plans to begin mandatory evacuations at 6 p.m. tomorrow, said John Vanden Bos, assistant emergency management coordinator. School buses will carry residents who can't leave on their own.
A mandatory evacuation requires evacuees to travel only to predetermined locations and allows them exclusive use of highways. Those who flee during a voluntary evacuation can go anywhere, Vanden Bos said.
Evacuation of Corpus Christi, about 250 miles southwest of Galveston, ``is premature at this point,'' city spokesman Ted Nelson said in an interview. ``When it's about 72 hours out, if it looks like it's on a course that would threaten us, then we would start recommending that people evacuate from low-lying areas.''
Emergency management officials in Matagorda County, Texas, will meet at 4:30 p.m. local time today to decide when to open their emergency operations center and whether evacuations will be necessary, said Harriet Townsend, executive secretary to County Judge Greg Westmoreland, who leads the county's emergency management efforts. Rita is forecast to make landfall in or near the county, she said.
Evacuees to Move
Texas Governor Rick Perry recalled the Texas National Guard and other state emergency personnel from Louisiana yesterday in anticipation of Rita. Emergency forces will be redeployed by mid- week to areas near the Texas coast should current forecasts hold. Texas has 367 miles (591 kilometers) of coastline, according to the Texas Almanac.
The Texas National Guard and the U.S. Transportation Department were scheduled this afternoon to begin moving more than 7,000 Hurricane Katrina victims staying in coastal Texas communities to other states, Federal Emergency Management Agency spokesman David Passey said.
Four thousand evacuees staying in Houston will be evacuated to Fort Chaffee, Arkansas, and 3,000 staying in San Antonio will be moved to Tennessee. Texas state officials are requesting Nebraska begin accepting some evacuees from various Texas cities tomorrow, he said.
New Orleans
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin yesterday suspended plans to allow residents to return to their homes and businesses because of the risk posed by Rita. The Louisiana city, once home to a half a million people, was flooded after Katrina's storm surge overwhelmed the system of levees and pumps that held back the waters of Lake Pontchartrain and the Mississippi River.
The city's levees are weak and can't handle more than 9 inches or a 3-foot storm surge, Nagin said yesterday during a Briefing. Buses will be available to help remove residents who are in New Orleans, though most people in the city have a way out, Nagin said today on CNN.
Beginning tomorrow, southeastern Louisiana likely will have tides about 8 feet above normal near shore, and as much as 12 feet further out, according to a FEMA report.
``Even if the eye of Rita does not strike the Louisiana coast, it is likely that its affects could be felt from as far away as coastal southeast Louisiana,'' Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco said in a statement.
Oil Facilities
Katrina moved into the Gulf last month after passing over Florida, killing 11. The storm grew and its winds reached as high as 175 mph over open water before it slammed ashore in Louisiana's Plaquemines Parish with 140 mph winds. Louisiana has tallied 736 deaths from Katrina and Mississippi has 218. Bodies are still being recovered.
Rita won't follow the path of Katrina, said David Tolleris, a meteorologist with Windsong Forecast, which provides weather forecasts to oil companies, energy traders, brokers and utilities.
The current path puts the storm on course to threaten Texas's oil facilities, prompting Royal Dutch Shell Plc and other oil companies to pull workers from rigs near the two states. Anadarko Petroleum Corp. and Marathon Oil Corp. also said today they were evacuating workers from Gulf platforms ahead of Rita, the 17th named storm of the season.
Corpus Christi, which is about 125 miles from the border with Mexico, is home to two refineries operated by San Antonio-based Valero Energy Corp. and one each by Citgo Petroleum Corp. and Koch Industries Inc.
Florida Keys
Crude oil and gasoline fell from a two-week high today in New York as forecasts showed Rita may veer more to the south than originally forecast and be less likely to damage refineries and production platforms around the Gulf of Mexico. About 30 percent of U.S. oil production comes from platforms in the Gulf. The region accounts for 24 percent of U.S. gas output.
Rita's center has moved past Key West, though the islands will continue to be pelted with wind and rain tonight, hurricane center meteorologist Colin McAdie said. Sand Key, Florida, reported sustained winds of 60 mph with a gust of 92 mph, the center said. Rita is expected to dump as much as 8 inches of rain across the Keys, with 10 inches possible in some areas.
U.S. President George W. Bush, making stops in Mississippi and Louisiana today, signed an emergency declaration for Florida, making the state and its residents eligible for federal assistance to recovery from the hurricane.
Route 1 Flooded
Parts of Route 1, the highway that spans the Keys, was flooded by Rita, and there has been sporadic power outages, downed palm trees and debris reported, said Jonathan Weinshank, a Monroe County public information officer.
``It could have been worse if it had hit the Keys directly or strengthened sooner,'' Weinshank said today in an interview.
This is the first time since 1995 that the storms have reached the letter ``R;'' 1995 brought Hurricane Tanya. Hurricanes are measured on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale. A tropical storm becomes a hurricane when winds reach 74 mph. A Category 2 storm has winds of at least 96 mph, a Category 3 has winds of at least 111 mph and Category 4 hurricanes have winds of 131 mph.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...fsJ5s&refer=us
Crazy stuff, i really hope this thing misses those areas that havent been devastated by Katrina, its a shitty thing to say but i really hope it hits New Orleans where there arent many people in the city.
Regards,
Lee
