Rita sparks
fires and floods
Weakened
hurricane Strains New Orleans ’Levee System
Hurricane Rita slammed into Texas and Louisiana early on Saturday ,smashing windows, sparking fires and knocking power out to more than I million customers .but largely sparing vulnerable Houston and already7 reeling New Orleans .Rita made landfall at 3:30 am as a Category 3
storm just east of Sabine Pass, on the Texas Louisiana line ,bringing top
winds of 193 kph and warnings of up to 64
cm of
rain ,the National Hurricane Center said .By late morning ,it had weakened to barely above hurricane status ,with its sustained winds at 121 kph as it moved north near Jasper.
Fears of severe flooding persisted; parts of the east Texas counties of Jasper and Tyler had received 25 to 30 cm of rain, the National Weather Service said. There were no immediate reports of fatalities or any detailed word on damage to the area’s vast oil refinery industry ,though rescuers and search teams in many areas had to wait for winds to subside before venturing out.
About 3 million people had fled the 800-km stretch of the Texas-Louisiana coast ahead of the storm motivated in part by the devastating toll that Hurricane Katrina inflicted on New Orleans and other parts of the Gulf Coast barely three weeks ago.
The storm spun off torna does as it churned no9rth-west ,causing transformers to explode .In Jasper County, a house with seven people inside floated in flood-waters after it came off its foundation said sheriff’s communications supervisors Alice Duckworth But the flood-prone cities of Houston and Galveston---largely evacuated over the past four days—escaped a direct hit.
So far Houston is weathering the storm, Mayor Bill White said. His police department received 28 burglary calls overnight and made 16 arrests—less than a typical Friday night, White said.
In New Orleans ,rain drenched parts of the abandoned city on Saturday. straining the levee system damaged by Katrina and causing more flooding in already ruined and abandoned poor neighborhoods .But the forecast of up to eight cm throughout the day was less than had been previously predicted. Overall it looks like New Orleans has lucked out National Weather Service Meteorologist Phil Grigsby said.
Heavy rain fell south of New Orleans in low=lying Jefferson Parish where a tidal surge of si8x to seven feet swamped some neighborhoods .Residents of Lafitte, a town of 1,600 south of New Orleans .,were being evacuated by bus.
In southwestern Lousiana ,authorities had trouble reaching stranded residents because of blocked roads and savage winds.
Some of the worst early damage reports were out o9f Vinton ,where several fires were burning the roof was torn off the town’s recreation centre.
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