Wild Weather
Hurricane Rita
September 18 - 26, 2005 [ Category 5 ]
Rita developed from a tropical wave that moved off the coast of Africa on September
7, 2005. The wave, however, did not become a named tropical storm until September 18th.
By September 20th, Rita strengthened to hurricane status with 80 mph maximum sustained
winds. That same day, Rita intensified to a category 2 on the Saffir-Simpson scale,
as it approached the Florida Straits. As Rita moved into the Gulf of Mexico, it continued
to strengthen and eventually gained category 5 status with nearly 180 mph maximum sustained
winds. Rita went from a tropical storm to a category 5 storm in less than 36 hours.
Fortunately, Rita weakened to a category 3 storm (with 115 mph max. sustained winds)
before hitting land near the Louisiana/Texas border. Because of the possibility of
the storm impacting large population centers, like Houston, there were over 2 million
evacuees from Texas alone, many of which were evacuees from Hurricane Katrina.
Rita is blamed for seven fatalities, in various locations along the Gulf Coast. While
the storm's eye passed over near the Louisiana-Texas border, the impacts were far-reaching.
One death was a drowning in Lake Charles Louisiana; four people died from fallen trees
Texas; a tornado killed one person in Mississippi, and one person was killed from a
rip current in the Florida panhandle. The storm surge from Rita destroyed entire communities.
The estimated property damage was over $12 billion.
Use your mouse or finger and slide across the image to see the tracks of Rita.
Back to 2005 Atlantic Hurricane Season Highlights 
