Rita now a hurricane

2005-09-23 14:23

Key West - Tropical Storm Rita has strenghtened into a category one hurricane on Tuesday morning, the Miami-based National Weather Centre announced.

Rita began lashing the Florida Keys on Tuesday with heavy rain and strong wind, threatening a storm surge of up to 2.1m and sparking fears it could eventually bring new misery to the Gulf Coast.

Thousands of residents and tourists fled the Keys in advance of Rita as it swept across the islands on its way into the Gulf of Mexico. It promised to gain more strength as it crossed the Gulf of Mexico for a weekend landfall, most likely in Texas although Louisiana could end up in its path.

"It's right on the cusp of being a hurricane," said Chris Sisko, a meteorologist at the hurricane centre. "It will probably reach that strength later on. This is going to be a daylong event."

Officials of Galveston, Texas - nearly 1 450km from Key West - were already calling for a voluntary evacuation. Louisiana Govenor Kathleen Blanco urged everyone in the southwest part of the state to prepare to evacuate.

The storm threatened to dump up to 38cm of rain on parts of the low-lying Keys island chain. With sustained wind over 113km/h and the possible storm surge of 1.2 to 2.1m, many residents fled on Monday for points to the north - but not everyone.

'Evacuating is the right thing to do'

Key West resident Linda McAlarney, who moved to temporary quarters at a local hotel, was walking her dog, Onyx, just after daybreak on Tuesday during a lull in the storm. Few others were out amid Key West's boarded-up shops and bars.

"I think evacuating is the right thing to do, and I probably should've done that," McAlarney said.

South Floridians kept a wary eye on Rita. The state has been battered by six hurricanes since August of last year.

"I've lived in Florida all my life," said James Swindell, 37, who shopped along a cleared-out Miami Beach on Monday. "You always have to be worried about a storm because they are too unpredictable and they can shift on you at the last minute."

In New Orleans, Mayor Ray Nagin suspended his plan to start bringing residents back to the city after forecasters warned that Rita could follow Hurricane Katrina's course into the Gulf of Mexico and shatter his city's already weakened levees.

The storm had top sustained winds of 113km/h early on Tuesday and it was expected to strengthen into a Category 1 hurricane, with winds of at least 119km/h, later in the day.

No serious damage in Bahamas

Hurricane warnings were posted for the Keys and Miami-Dade County, the National Hurricane Center said. Residents and visitors were ordered to clear out of the Keys, and voluntary evacuation orders were posted for some 134 000 Miami-Dade residents of coastal areas such as Miami Beach.

Forecasters said 8 to 13cm of rain was possible across southern Florida.

At 08:00 EDT (12:00GMT), Rita was centred about 160km east-southeast of Key West. It was moving between west and west-northwest at nearly 24km/h according to the hurricane centre.

In the Bahamas, no serious damage was reported after Rita passed to the south. However, fishermen had dragged their boats to dry land and some people shuttered their windows - a sign that normally laid-back islanders were concerned.

Rita is the 17th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, making this the fourth-busiest season since record-keeping started in 1851. The record is 21 tropical storms in 1933.

Rita brought new gyrations in the oil markets, including a $4 per barrel increase on Monday, and some companies, including Chevron and Shell, began evacuating employees from offshore oil and gas platforms. About 56% of the Gulf's oil production was already out of operation because of Katrina.

Associated Press writer Dominic Duncombe in Nassau, Bahamas, contributed to this report.

- AP