Hurricane Rita was the seventeenth named tropical storm, ninth hurricane, fifth major hurricane, and second Category 5 hurricane of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. This hurricane is on record as being the strongest measured hurricane to ever have entered the Gulf of Mexico, and the third most intense hurricane ever in the Atlantic Basin. After peaking in strength at 175 mph (280 km/h) steady winds, it made landfall between Sabine Pass, Texas, and Johnson's Bayou, Louisiana, at 02:38 CDT (07:38 UTC) on September 24, 2005 as a Category 3 hurricane, with windspeeds of 120 mph (190 km/h) and a storm surge of 10 feet (3 m). [1]
The storm first struck Florida after making an approach near Cuba and went on to strike Texas and Louisiana. It is doubtful that Cuba saw sustained tropical storm force winds. A day prior to landfall, the resultant storm surge also reopened some of the levee breaches caused by Hurricane Katrina a month earlier, and reflooded parts of New Orleans. [2] Post-landfall damage was extensive in the coastal areas in southwestern Louisiana and extreme southeastern Texas.
Because the Gulf of Mexico is a major center for crude oil production and refineries, as well as home to some of the busiest ports in the world, Rita initially presented the potential to do damage beyond the localized wind and wave surge. These concerns have so far not been realized, as no reports emerged of long-term damage to the major U.S. refining and shipping capacities in Houston, Texas City, Port Arthur, Texas or Beaumont, Texas [3] [4]. Power outages may have the greatest related effect.
NOAA reported Rita's record-setting Category 5 strength as a result of achieving a minimum central pressure of 897 millibars (hPa) (26.49 inches of mercury) on the afternoon of September 21, 2005. This record strength steadily diminished prior to landfall after Rita moved over cooler waters in the northern Gulf of Mexico.
