Hurricane Rita makes landfall

Correction — August 8, 2014

This article incorrectly states that Hurricane Rita first made contact with the shore in Texas, west of the Louisiana border. It actually made landfall just east of the border (the southern end of Sabine Pass), in Louisiana, near Johnson Bayou LA.
This error was widely propagated in the media at the time, and, as of this writing, still persists in historical coverage.

Saturday, September 24, 2005

The core of Hurricane Rita made landfall just west of the Texas–Louisiana border as a category 3 storm at 3 AM Saturday with sustained winds near 120 mph. The center of the eye crossed the coast southeast of Beaumont, Texas, near Sabine Pass, with the eyewall extending into Louisiana.

Rita is expected to produce rainfall accumulations of 8–12 inches, with the storm slowing down and producing a total of as much as 25 inches across eastern Texas and western Louisiana. Bursts of tropical storm winds and rainfall amounts of 3–5 inches are possible in New Orleans.

New Orleans' Ninth Ward, which saw as much as 20 feet of water during Hurricane Katrina, is currently in waist high water as a nearby levee was overtopped. Water is spilling over the levee in a section 100 feet wide. There are reports of damage or leakage at three levee breaches.

Near the center of the storm, coastal storm surge flooding of 15 feet above normal tide levels is expected, reaching 20 feet in bays and rivers. Tides are about 2 feet above normal along the Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama coasts, and tides will increase to 4–6 feet above normal, with large waves and swells.

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Related news

"Hurricane Rita turns toward Texas-Louisiana border" — Wikinews, September 23, 2005
"Houston mayor urges evacuations as Hurricane Rita moves closer to shore" — Wikinews, September 22, 2005
"Florida Keys evacuated in preparation for Rita" — Wikinews, September 21, 2005

Sources

"Hurricane RITA Position Estimate" — National Weather Service, September 24, 2005
"HURRICANE RITA INTERMEDIATE ADVISORY NUMBER 26B" — National Weather Service, September 24, 2005
Associated Press. "Rita's Rains Breach Two New Orleans Levees" — Richmond Times-Dispatch, September 23, 2005

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