Hurricane Rita threatens more Gulf Coast destruction

HURRICANE Rita strengthened rapidly to a Category 2 hurricane as it lashed the Florida Keys with flooding rain and strong wind and sparked fears the storm could eventually bring new misery to the Gulf Coast.

Rita went from a tropical storm with top sustained wind of 113km/h early yesterday to a hurricane with 161km/h wind by early evening as it passed just south of the Keys, the National Hurricane Centre said.

Thousands of residents and tourists had fled the low-lying island chain, where forecasters said Rita could dump up to 20 centimetres of rain, down from earlier forecasts of up to 38cm.

Rita threatened to continue gaining strength as it left Florida and crossed the warm Gulf of Mexico for a weekend landfall, most likely in Texas although Louisiana or northern Mexico could end up in the path of what could become a major hurricane.

“Farther out, we do anticipate further strengthening up to Category 3, or major hurricane status,” said Chris Sisko, a meteorologist at the hurricane centre.

Officials called for a voluntary evacuation of the island city of Galveston as Hurricane Rita threatened to slam into the Texas coast this weekend.

This month marks the 105th anniversary of the hurricane that wiped out Galveston in one of the deadliest natural disasters in US history. An estimated 8,000 people were killed.

Meanwhile, in New Orleans, the mayor has already suspended the reopening of the city and ordered nearly everyone to leave town again.

The call for another evacuation came after repeated warnings from top federal officials, including President George Bush, that New Orleans was not safe enough to reopen.

Federal officials warned Rita could breach the city’s weakened levees and swamp New Orleans all over again.

There appeared to be little effort to enforce Mayor Ray Nagin’s new evacuation order and some National Guard units were withdrawing from the city. The troops have been living in tents in the city’s Algiers section near a levee that officials fear could break.

The White House yesterday called for patience on the part of Hurricane Katrina survivors as President Bush took his fifth trip to a battered Gulf Coast.