Hurricane Rita
By Kevin Parsley
Sabine Pass, Texas looked very different today than it did yesterday. Yesterday houses lined the coastline and today, nothing but debris after Hurricane Rita made landfall as a category 3 hurricane.
The storm formed when two different systems came together. The tropical wave then began moving off the West Africa coast on September 7, 2005. The tropical wave became a hurricane over the Florida Straits on September 20, 2005 and quickly became a category 5 hurricane. Rita made landfall southeast of Sabine Pass on at the Texas/Louisiana border on September 24 as a category 3 hurricane.
Hurricane Rita Satellite Video Archive
The storm lasted from September 18, 2005 - September 25, 2005. Rita killed 120 people and caused over 10.5 billion dollars in damage for both Texas and Louisiana. Many of the oil refineries on the Gulf Coast were temporarily shut down and reopened soon but some never reopened due to being badly damaged.
The evacuation from Texas.
Boat washed ashore by Rita.
Cameron Parrish destruction.
The Texas and Louisiana coastline was the hardest hit areas with southeast Texas having lots of damage and in Louisiana the Cameron Parish and other parishes in the area being completely destroyed. Rita also caused one of the largest evacuations in United States history with 3 million people evacuating from Texas and Louisiana.
Interesting Facts
Hurricane Rita was the fourth most intense hurricane ever recorded.
The estimated storm surge was 15 ft tall and came as far inland as 25 miles.
The winds were 120 miles an hour when Rita made landfall.