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Officials
Assess Damage In Wake Of Hurricane Rita |
Posted:
09.26.05
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Police and other emergency workers continue to search flooded
communities in Louisiana and Texas for those stranded after Hurricane
Rita caused widespread flooding but less damage than Hurricane
Katrina, which struck less than a month ago.
Printer-friendly versions: PDF
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Hurricane Rita plowed into the Gulf Coast along the Texas-Louisiana
border early Saturday morning, packing 150 mph wind gusts and
15-foot waves. Making landfall as a Category 3 storm, Rita quickly
weakened to a Category 1 storm by mid-morning.
Although weaker and faster moving than Katrina, which devastated
parts of Louisiana and Mississippi four weeks ago, Rita caused
heavy damage to the cities of Lake Charles, La. and Beaumont,
Texas. Officials said the massive evacuation of more than 3 million
people from the Gulf Coast region had saved countless lives. As
of Sunday night, only two people had been confirmed killed by
Rita as opposed to more than 1,000 who died in Katrina.
"As bad as it could have been, we came out of this in pretty
good shape," said Texas Governor Rick Perry, who called the
lack of widespread fatalities "miraculous."
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Damage |
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In Cameron Parish, on the Louisiana/Texas line, fishing communities
were reduced to splinters by the worst of Rita's winds. Debris
was reportedly strewn for miles by water or wind.
"In Cameron, there's really hardly anything left. Everything
is just obliterated," Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco
said Sunday.
Hundreds of thousands of trees were downed across the region,
knocking out utilities, including water, electric and telecommunications
to thousands of residents, the Washington Post  reported.
Local authorities urged those who had fled to remain away until
more repairs could be made to roads, power lines and other infrastructure.
"This is not a livable place," Dick Nugent, mayor of
Nederland, south of Beaumont, told the Washington Post. "We
do not have water yet. We do not have power yet. All we have is
a mess."
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New Orleans |
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In New Orleans, a lighter
than expected rainfall spared much of the Katrina-battered city
from another major flood. Only about 3 inches fell in the city,
but a major storm surge of 6 to 9 feet breeched at least one of
the city's levees, sending several feet of water back into the deserted
Ninth Ward, a poorer part of the city that was flooded by 30 feet
of water in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
 "Overall,
it looks like New Orleans has lucked out in that they didn't get
the heaviest rainfall," meteorologist Phil Grigsby told the
Associated Press.
In fact, the situation had improved to the point where New Orleans
Mayor Ray Nagin decided Monday to allow people to return to some
of the less damaged neighborhoods in the city.
"With Hurricane Rita behind us, the task at hand is to bring
New Orleans back," he said. "We want people to return
and help us rebuild the city. However, we want everyone to assess
the risks and make an informed decision about re-entry plans."
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President
Bush |
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President Bush, who was widely criticized for his and the government's
sluggish response to Katrina, received numerous briefings on the
track and fallout of the storm Saturday and was in Louisiana Sunday
for briefings with state officials.
 "Our
federal government is well organized and well prepared to deal
with Rita," President Bush said. "The first order of
business now is search and rescue teams -- to pull people out
of harm's way," he said.
Although the damage from Rita was minor compared to Katrina,
experts still say the cost of repairing the businesses and homes
wrecked by the storm could be enormous.
CNN/Money reported Monday that early damage estimates from three
major catastrophe risk modeling companies put insured losses at
between $2.5 billion to $7 billion in eastern Texas and western
Louisiana.
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Compiled from wire reports and other media sources
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Joplin was able to rise from the ashes because of help from everyone. And I am eternally grateful to anyone who made that possible.
