Rita pounds 'Energy City'

2005-09-24 20:49

Port Arthur, Texas - Hurricane Rita cut a path of destruction on Saturday through this major oil refinery and chemical processing town, downing trees and ripping off roofs as it smashed into the US Gulf Coast.

Much of the town was cut off by waist-high flood water and downed powerlines, cars lay smashed beneath uprooted trees and the main refinery - a major employer for the town's 56 000 people - was out of reach in the hours after the powerful storm struck.

"It was pretty scary," said John Harrison, whose wooden home in a poor neighbourhood was surrounded by 33 centimetres of water as dawn broke and revealed the damage wrought during a night of howling winds and torrential, driving rain.

"I didn't feel that running away would change anything but when the roof of the garage started coming off I thought it was time to go," he said as he leaned out of a broken window of his home, which was battered but still standing.

Rita, the second monster storm to hit the region in less than a month, was packing maximum winds of 195 kilometres per hour with higher gusts, according to weather experts.

Port Arthur lay almost dead centre in the path of the storm's swirling eye as it made landfall on the Texas/Louisiana border at 07:39 GMT, between the major cities of Houston and New Orleans.

Few residents were on the streets early on Saturday as rescue workers tried to reach areas blocked off by debris and floodwater.

Taking no chances

The US military on Friday airlifted more than 10 000 people out of the town, where the late rock legend Janis Joplin was born and raised.

One of the first residents on the battered streets after the worst of storm had passed was real estate agent Brandon Allen, 32, who described "lots of roofs ripped off the houses and a lot of flood damage".

His home survived the hurricane but he said another house he rented out was "totally flooded".

"I expected the storm to be a heck of a lot worse," he said after the total devastation of Hurricane Katrina which ruined New Orleans on August 29 and killed more than 1 000 people across the region.

Port Arthur residents were taking no chances as Rita bore down on the US coast as a category three storm on a scale of five, one down from category-four Katrina.

Many spent more than 12 hours awaiting evacuation from the industrial city, whose major employers are Huntsman Corp, a petrochemical manufacturer, and petroleum refiners Motiva Enterprises and Premcor Refining Group.

Forecasters warned that flood tides of up to 4.5 metres could swallow up parts of the Gulf Coast.

Isolated tornados were possible throughout eastern Texas, Louisiana, Southern Arkansas and Mississippi throughout Saturday.

Maximum rainfall totals in excess of 63 centimetres could be seen in some areas, raising the prospect of severe flash flooding.

- AFP