Hurricane Rita with 175 mph Winds is Forecast to Hit Texas

August 21st 2005

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Evacuations have been ordered in Texas and Louisiana as Hurricane Rita approaches the Texas Coast.  Rita is expected to hit Texas somewhere between Galveston and Corpus Christi sometime before Saturday. 

Galveston, low-lying parts of Corpus Christi and Houston, and New Orleans are under mandatory evacuation according to the Associated Press. More than 1.3 million people have been evacuated.  Government officials have jumped into action after the sluggish response given to Katrina. 

Rita’s wind speeds have reached Category 5 strength on the Safir-Simpson scale at 175 mph as calculated by an Air Force Reserve hurricane hunter plane.  Forecasters speculate that Rita could be the most intense hurricane on record to ever hit Texas.  It will be one of the most powerful hurricanes to hit the US mainland. 

The weather service has issued a hurricane warning from Mansfield Texas to Cameron Louisiana (a hurricane is expected within the next 24 hours or so). A tropical storm watch is in effect from East Cameron to Grand isle Louisiana and from south of Port Mansfield to Brownsville Texas.  A tropical storm watch is also in effect for northern Mexico.

The center of the hurricane is located about 540 miles east-southeast of Galveston Texas.  Rita is moving toward the west-northwest at about 9 mph.  It is expected to speed up within the next 24 hours.  Hurricane force winds extend out up to 70 miles from the center, while tropical storm force winds extend 185 miles from the center.

Heavy rains are forecasted to begin Thursday night and last into Friday.  The Texas coast should expect 8 to 12 inches of rainfall with a maximum of 15 inches in some places.

The weather service is calling this a “potentially catastrophic hurricane”.  The last major hurricane to strike the Houston area was the Category 3 Alicia in 1983. It flooded downtown Houston, spawned 22 tornadoes and left 21 people dead.

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By Dan Wilson
Best Syndication Staff Writer

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