Hurricane Rita

In Environmental Management we studied tropical cyclones. Afterwards, we were asked to look for information about one case in particular and analyse it.

Hurricane Rita was the most intense tropical cyclone in the Gulf of Mexico and one of the most intense hurricanes of 2005. It was formed from the interaction between a tropical wave and the remains of a cold front in Puerto Rico. By September 18 it was declared a tropical depression in the islands of Turks and Caicos and later that day it turned into a tropical storm.

On September 20 it intensified into a Category 5 hurricane because of its passing through the Loop Current. Its winds were of 258 km/h.
By September 24, when Rita made landfall on the Sabine Pass (Texas-Louisiana border), it had already weakened into a Category 3
This hurricane happened less than a month after Hurricane Katrina, therefore, the damages caused by Katrina were made worst by Rita. The rise of the sea level affected coastal communities, which some were completely destroyed.
Although 120 deaths were registered, only 7 were caused directly by the storms. Most of them were the result of accidents during the evacuation of 3 million people from Louisiana and Texas, the biggest evacuation in the US history. Moreover, there were shortages of food, fuel and water and lots of people left without job.
The reparation cost were of more that 10 billions of dollars, making Rita the 9th most costliest hurricane in the US.