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Hurricane Rita facts for kids

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Hurricane Rita
Category 5 major hurricane (SSHWS/NWS)
HurricaneRita21Sept05a.jpg
Hurricane Rita near peak intensity on September 21
Formed September 18, 2005
Dissipated September 26, 2005
Highest winds 1-minute sustained: 180 mph (285 km/h)
Lowest pressure 895 mbar (hPa); 26.43 inHg
Fatalities 97–125 total
Damage $18.5 billion (2005 USD)
Areas affected Hispaniola, Turks and Caicos Islands, Bahamas, Cuba, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Great Lakes region
Part of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season

Hurricane Rita was a powerful hurricane in the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. It hit the United States' Gulf Coast. At its peak intensity, it was a strong Category 5 storm with sustained winds of 175 miles per hour. It made landfall as a Category 3 storm, and caused more flooding in New Orleans, which already had weakened levees due to Hurricane Katrina. In addition, it caused massive power outages.

Related pages


Tropical cyclones of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season
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Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale
TD TS C1 C2 C3 C4 C5


Images for kids

  • Satellite image of a rather weak tropical cyclone - the storm is an elongated mass of clouds, stretching horizontally.

    Tropical Storm Rita over the eastern Bahamas on September 18

  • Satellite image of a strengthening hurricane passing between two landmasses. The hurricane has also developed an eye.

    Hurricane Rita as a Category 2 hurricane crossing the Florida Straits

  • Rita 25 sept 2005 1640Z

    Rita in the Texas-Louisiana border on September 25

  • Stranded on Highway 60

    Motorists stranded on Highway 60 during Hurricane Rita evacuation.

  • Rita 2005 rainfall

    Hurricane Rita Rainfall

  • FEMA - 16669 - Photograph by Win Henderson taken on 10-03-2005 in Louisiana

    Holly Beach, a town along the Gulf Coast completely destroyed by Rita

  • FEMA - 20460 - Photograph by Marvin Nauman taken on 11-19-2005 in Louisiana

    Holly Beach was almost completely leveled by Rita's storm surge

  • HurricaneRitaFlooding AMO 20050925

    Two satellite images showing the extent of flooding caused by Rita in Louisiana and Texas.

  • Flooding in Galveston from Hurricane Rita

    Floodwaters and destruction left in the aftermath of Hurricane Rita, in an area located near Galveston Bay, Texas.

  • FellowshipChurch

    Church in Beaumont with roof ripped off by Hurricane Rita.

  • Hurricane Rita projected path September 22

    Projected path of Hurricane Rita on September 22 highlighting refineries and oil rigs across southeast Texas and southern Louisiana.

  • JTF Rita

    Soldiers load hundreds of Meals, Ready-to-Eat and water onto a CH-47 Chinook helicopter at Ellington Field, Texas

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