Rita pounds Florida Keys
2005-09-23 14:53
Miami - Hurricane Rita pounded the fragile Florida Keys islands on Tuesday as it barrelled toward the oil-rich Gulf of Mexico on a track that could take it close to devastated New Orleans.
Packing winds of 160km/h, the hurricane left more than 24 000 homes without power, sent street signs and coconuts flying and flooded parts of the only road that links the Florida Keys to the mainland.
But hurricane-weary south Florida was spared a direct hit as the centre of the storm remained offshore between Cuba and the Keys as it headed into the Gulf of Mexico.
Wind and rain lashed the area as the eye of the storm swirled 80km off Key West, the southernmost island in the Florida Keys.
The Keys' 80 000 residents had been ordered to leave, but many opted to ride out the hurricane, which forecasters warned might still spawn dangerous tornadoes.
Florida's governor Jeb Bush urged residents to remain indoors for the rest of the day because of continuing winds and possible flooding.
Many businesses shut down
"There is as much danger after the storm than during the storm," he said at a news conference.
Hospitals in the Florida Keys were closed on Tuesday, while schools, government buildings and many businesses shut down in parts of south Florida.
Miami International Airport remained open, but numerous flights were either canceled or delayed. The port of Miami was expected to reopen on Tuesday evening.
Rita skirted the Bahamas islands at tropical-storm strength before becoming a hurricane on Tuesday morning, churning past Cuba's Atlantic coast and virtually paralysing Havana, where pounding wind and rain kept most residents indoors.
It ranked as a category two on the five-level Saffir-Simpson hurricane intensity scale on Tuesday, and forecasters warned it could eventually strengthen by another notch as it drew fuel from the warm Gulf of Mexico waters.
While authorities had come under fire for failing to respond to the New Orleans disaster immediately, Florida's governor emphasised that emergency personnel and supplies were pre-positioned and ready to move into any affected areas in his state.
States of emergency
He said military helicopters, national guardsmen, search-and-rescue teams, medical personnel and trucks loaded with emergency supplies had been mobilised.
The governor's brother, United States President George W Bush, declared Florida was in a state of emergency, which freed federal relief funds for the southeastern state.
In Louisiana, governor Kathleen Blanco declared a state of emergency in western Louisiana on Tuesday and urged people to evacuate as Rita headed toward the Gulf of Mexico.