Hurricane Rita Causes Fear and Loathing on Gulf Coast
Hurricane Rita lashed down on the Florida Keys Tuesday evening, passing 50 miles south of Key West with winds approaching 100 MPH. The storm was expected to bring 4 to 8 inches of rain to the area, and a storm surge of 4 to 6 feet. The satellite picture below shows Rita on Tuesday morning.
The bigger worry, however, is in the Texas and Louisiana areas, where the storm is expected to become a category 4 or 5 hurricane by the time it makes landfall. The latest predictions have the storm landing somewhere along the Texas coast between Corpus Christi and Galveston sometime early Saturday morning.
It’s very understandable for the area to be concerned after the damage caused by Katrina. Although the storm isn’t expected to make a direct hit on New Orleans, any large amount of rain or high winds could further damage the levees, and prolong the still flooded conditions.
Meanwhile, Phillipe isn’t posing a threat to the United States, and may very well head off to sea. It was downgraded to a tropical storm after attaining hurricane status.
Meanwhile, in Atlanta, temperatures remain 6 to 8 degrees above the normal high of 82 degrees for this time of year. A strong upper level high pressure system is providing the extraordinary warmth, and, fortunately for New Orleans, is driving Rita to the west, rather than taking the path of Katrina.
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