User:WeatherVane/Sandbox
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hurricane Rita was a destructive, powerful, and deadly Category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale from the ruinous 2005 Atlantic hurricane season that led to one of the largest evacuations in modern history. It was the seventeenth named storm, tenth hurricane, fifth major hurricane, and third Category 5 hurricane of the record-breaking season. Rita was the most intense tropical cyclone ever observed in the Gulf of Mexico, and it had the fourth lowest minimum central pressure ever recorded for an Atlantic hurricane. Rita was responsible for approximately $10 billion (2005 USD) in damage on the U.S. Gulf Coast.
hurricane | |
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Formed | September 17, 2005 |
Dissipated | September 26, 2005 |
Rita rapidly strengthened to a Category 5 hurricane because it traversed the Gulf Loop Current. Although it weakened to a Category 3 storm before making landfall on September 24 near the Texas-Louisiana border, it brought with it a storm surge that caused extensive damage along the Louisiana and extreme southeastern Texas coasts and completely destroyed some coastal communities. The storm killed seven people directly, although over 100 more died as a result of the evacuations and the indirect effects.