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.