Stories tagged Hurricane Rita

Just on the heels of the deadly Hurricane Katrina, Rita hit the gulf coast with 120mph winds. The storm grew to enormous force out at sea with winds in excess of 155mph but then slowed down some as it came inland.

Is New Orleans in danger also?

The hurricane is came on shore near Lake Charles, TX which is very close to the Louisiana border and about a 5 hour drive to New Orleans. But the storm is was so big that the storm surge was easily able to top some of New Orleans' fragile levees. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said that after Hurricane Katrina, the levees could handle only 6 inches of rain and a storm surge of 10-12 feet.

Watch the waters rise

As the hurricane comes ashore, it will push massive amounts of water inland, causing a "storm surge." To watch the water rise in real-time, check out the Texas USGS stream-flow gauges. The gauge near Freeport is likely to show an effect (depending on where the storm hits). These gauges measure the water level in streams and rivers in real-time. Watch for a huge increase as the hurricane moves inland.

Get to higher ground

Right now, more than 1.3 million people are under mandatory evacuation orders. Texas Governor Rick Perry, having learned Katrina's lessons, is preparing the state for a worst-case scenario. President Bush has declared states of emergency in Texas and Louisiana, allowing FEMA to coordinate plans, and workers at the South Texas Project nuclear power plant are shutting the facility down before Rita arrives.

And watch for rising gas prices. The threatened oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico produce more than 25% of total U.S. oil output.

Tags : hurricanes, Hurricane Rita

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