Rita threatens Fla Keys and Gulf coast

"? Florida Keys prepare for Rita's wrath
Oil business at risk
If Rita strikes Texas, it could seriously disrupt the oil industry. About half of oil production and 35 percent of gasoline production in the gulf already are shut down because of damage from Hurricane Katrina, according to the Minerals Management Service.

"We really can't afford to lose more production,"? said Phil Flynn, analyst at Alaron Trading Corp. in Chicago.

ChevronTexaco Corp. and Shell began evacuating employees from offshore oil- and gas-drilling platforms. Other companies were watching the storm's track but had not yet begun evacuations.
storm story [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] We are on a pace for a record season I think.

[imported_burrhead]

I guess Bush was getting worried since gas was starting to come down. [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img] I hate it for these people. When's it going to end?

Price of crude is going up again I hear. [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] On the serious side-Rita went from a tropical storm with top sustained wind of 70 mph early Tuesday to a hurricane with 100 mph wind by early afternoon as it passed just south of the Keys, the National Hurricane Center said- Likely to become stronger
Rita promised to gain more strength as it crossed the warm Gulf of Mexico for a weekend landfall, most likely in Texas although Louisiana could end up in its path.- i always thought I wanted to live near an ocean, no thank you, not any more. When does the storm season end?

Up to what a level 4 now. Same level as Katrina when it hit New Orleans and the rest of the Gulf.
Got to feel for anyone in the path of a storm like that.
And heard on the news this morning, were just half way through the 20 year hurricane, cycle for highly active hurricanes?

This ain't gonna be pretty- GALVESTON, Texas - Hospital and nursing home patients were evacuated and as many as 1 million other people were ordered to clear out along the Gulf Coast on Wednesday as Hurricane Rita grew to a Category 5, 165-mph monster that could pummel Texas and bring more misery to New Orleans by week's end.

Forecasters said Rita could be the most intense hurricane on record ever to hit Texas, and one of the most powerful ever to slam into the U.S. mainland.

All of Galveston, vulnerable sections of Houston and Corpus Christi, and a mostly emptied-out New Orleans were under mandatory evacuation orders, one day after Rita sideswiped the Florida Keys as a far weaker storm and caused minor damage.