 Placard in windshield of New Orleans Police Department vehicle as Hurricane Rita takes aim on the west central Gulf Coast (courtesy: New Orleans Times-Picayune) |
Fulfilling the “worst fears” of local officials, water poured over a patched levee in New Orleans’ Ninth Ward today as the fringes of Hurricane Rita began to touch the already flood-ravaged city.
Maj. Barry Guidry of the Georgia National Guard said the levee suffered three significant breaches and water rose rapidly, flooding dozens of blocks in the city’s impoverished neighborhood, which borders the historic French Quarter.
“At daybreak I found substantial breaks and they’ve grown larger,” he said.
The Ninth Ward, one of the hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina three weeks ago, finally had been pumped dry. Forecasters expect from 3 to 5 inches of rain in New Orleans as Rita passes today and tomorrow.
Rita, which veered slightly east today, is expected to make landfall overnight in the vicinity of the Texas-Louisiana border, about 75 miles east of Houston. This afternoon, hurricane-force winds extended up to 85 miles from the center and tropical storm-force winds reached outward 205 miles as the storm moved at about 10 mph, less than 200 miles southeast of Port Arthur, Texas.
Hurricane warnings were in effect from Port O’Connor, Texas, to Morgan City, La.
 (courtesy: Houston Chronicle) |
Port Arthur and neighboring Beaumont, Texas — projected this afternoon to bear the brunt of Rita’s wrath — are important ports for the region’s oil industry.
The Texas and Louisiana coast is home to 87 chemical plants and petroleum installations, representing more than one-fourth of U.S. refining capacity.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry said state officials are in contact with plants that are “taking appropriate procedures to safeguard their facilities.”
Petrochemical plants began shutting and hundreds of workers were evacuated from offshore oil rigs.
Jack Colley, director of the Texas Division of Emergency Management, said today an estimated 5.2 million Texans would be affected by the storm.
If the hurricane proceeds as expected, an estimated 6,000 homes would be destroyed and 16,000 people made homeless, the official said.
Officials anticipate an initial damage estimate of $8.3 billion, not including lost commerce.
Areas of southeast Texas, Colley said, can expect hurricane force winds for 16 straight hours.
The entire city of Port Arthur could be submerged in an 18- to 22-foot storm surge caused by Rita’s “tsunami effect,” he said.
In the largest evacuation in U.S. history, an estimated 2.5 million people have fled the area, clogging thoroughfares in greater Houston.
“It’s a great test for the people of our state,” Perry said today. “But we’re going to get through this. … Be calm, be strong, say a prayer for Texas.”
Mayor Bill White, at a news conference this afternoon, said, “Hurricane Rita is dangerous and Houston is well-prepared.”
“A vast army of resources,” local, state and federal, have been mobilizing for days, he said.
Republican Rep. Tom Delay of Houston suburb Sugar Land praised White and other officials and pointed out first responders already are standing by.
“We are ready for Rita,” he said
Earlier today, the storm, which reached Category 5 yesterday, was downgraded from a 4 to a 3, with winds of about 135 mph.
But New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin acknowledged, “Hurricane Rita is a very dangerous storm. We’re not letting our guards down.”
Forecasters warn of the possibility of a storm surge of 15 to 20 feet along the Texas and western Louisiana coast and rain of up to 15 inches.
The levee breach in New Orleans was caused by winds driven by Hurricane Rita-that pushed floodwaters from the Industrial Canal into the Ninth Ward, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported.
Army Corps of Engineers Brig. Gen. Robert Gen. Robert Crear said the storm surge was higher than expected this early.
“The surge is affected by the winds and we expect that to continue for several more hours,” he said.
Secretary of Transportation and Development Johnny Bradberry said the flooding was waist-deep near the levee.
But there have been no reports of flooding in other parts of the area, such as near the 17th Street Canal or the London Avenue Canal, two troublespots during Hurricane Katrina, according to Bradbury.
“We are just hoping and praying the winds will shift and the flooding will stop,” Bradbury told reporters, according to the New Orleans paper. “But we expect this flooding will continue to happen for the next few hours.”
Officials believe the Ninth Ward has been cleared of residents, however.
“I wouldn’t imagine there’s one person down there,” said Sally Forman, an aide to Mayor Nagin.
Officials suspended recovery of bodies from Hurricane Katrina. The death toll now is 841 in Louisiana and 1,078 across the Gulf Coast.
