Hurricane Rita Forecast to hit Oil and Chemical
Centers 75 miles from Houston
September 23rd 2005
|
 |
|
3 Day Hurricane
Rita Projection |
|
Traffic was at a standstill leaving the Houston area Thursday night
but the freeways were all clear Friday morning. Texas is preparing
for hurricane Rita which is about 190 miles southeast of Galveston.
Rita is now a category three hurricane on the Safir-Simpson as the
winds have dropped to 125 mph with higher gusts. It is possible the
storm will weaken further before landfall. The hurricane force
winds extend 85 miles outward from the center and Rita is moving
northwest at about 10 mph.
The hurricane will probably not hit Houston or Galveston directly
according to ABC News. The agency reported that Rita will likely hit
the oil and chemical centers of Beaumont and Port Arthur about 75
miles east of Houston. The Texas emergency management coordinator
predicted Rita would destroy nearly 5,700 homes and cause $8.2
billion in damage.
New Orleans officials fear Rita will cause even more damage to their
city as well. The rising water from the rain is already causing
water to pour over a patched levee / canal. The water in New
Orleans is rising 3 inches a minute according to Fox News.
According to the National Guard there are three significant levee
breaches. Dozens of city blocks in the Ninth Ward were under water
while a 30 foot wide waterfall poured over the breaks in the
Industrial Canal.
The tropical storm winds from Rita will hit New Orleans. The city
has barely begun to recover from the damage caused by Hurricane
Katrina four weeks ago.
The good news is that the brunt of the storm will not hit Galveston
and Houston. The bad news is that the brunt of the storm will hit a
major oil and gas production area to the East. This could affect
gas prices throughout the country.
Comment on this article
Submit your own article
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Rita
By
Dan Wilson
Best Syndication Staff Writer
Related Books
Keywords and misspellings: Bahama center miles per hour Phillipe Phileppe
Phillepe Reta Texas New Orleans direction
|
