2008 Woodie Awards
Hurricane Rita's Devastating Aftermath
The Southeast suffers increasingly in the wake of Hurricane Rita.
Rochelle Siegel
Issue date: 10/7/05 Section: News
- Page 1 of 2 next >
Rita has been the second devastating hurricane in a month for the Southeast region of the United States. Rescue crews are working on picking up and clearing out hundreds of smashed homes and downed trees caused by Hurricane Rita, whose path caused devastation along the Texas-Louisiana coast.
The hurricane slammed low-lying fishing villages, shrimping ports and ranches with up to 9 feet of water. Now rescuers have to pull out bayou residents who are stuck in the waters and Army helicopters are searching for thousands of cattle from the ranch that was flooded. Most of the cattle are feared dead.
In the costal Terrebonne Parish, nearly 9,900 homes were severely damaged or completely destroyed. In the town of Cameron, an estimated 80 percent of buildings were flattened. Army Lieutenant General Russel Honore described the town of Cameron in one word: destroyed. "Cameron and Creole have been destroyed except for the courthouse, which was built on stilts on higher ground. Most of the houses and public buildings no longer exist or are even in the same location that they were," Honore said.
Acres of rice fields, sugarcane fields and pastures were drowned when ocean water pushed its way 20 miles inland. The storm surge created by Rita also eroded levee repairs that were made after Hurricane Katrina and that sent water surging into already devastated towns. Officials have stated that it may take two to three weeks to pump out the water that was delivered by Rita.
The preliminary damage report for the damage in Texas has already reached 8 billion dollars. La. governor Kathleen Blanco has said that she was going to ask the federal government for $20.2 billion to protect New Orleans from future flooding.
Tough times are still ahead for the oil refineries though. At least 16 Texas oil refineries remain shut- down due to Rita. A refinery in Port Arthur and one in Beaumont have been out of power, and a second oil refinery in Port Arthur's was damaged so badly that it may remain out of service for two to four weeks. Due to this loss in oil caused by Rita the national average for the price of regular gasoline could again top $3.
The hurricane slammed low-lying fishing villages, shrimping ports and ranches with up to 9 feet of water. Now rescuers have to pull out bayou residents who are stuck in the waters and Army helicopters are searching for thousands of cattle from the ranch that was flooded. Most of the cattle are feared dead.
In the costal Terrebonne Parish, nearly 9,900 homes were severely damaged or completely destroyed. In the town of Cameron, an estimated 80 percent of buildings were flattened. Army Lieutenant General Russel Honore described the town of Cameron in one word: destroyed. "Cameron and Creole have been destroyed except for the courthouse, which was built on stilts on higher ground. Most of the houses and public buildings no longer exist or are even in the same location that they were," Honore said.
Acres of rice fields, sugarcane fields and pastures were drowned when ocean water pushed its way 20 miles inland. The storm surge created by Rita also eroded levee repairs that were made after Hurricane Katrina and that sent water surging into already devastated towns. Officials have stated that it may take two to three weeks to pump out the water that was delivered by Rita.
The preliminary damage report for the damage in Texas has already reached 8 billion dollars. La. governor Kathleen Blanco has said that she was going to ask the federal government for $20.2 billion to protect New Orleans from future flooding.
Tough times are still ahead for the oil refineries though. At least 16 Texas oil refineries remain shut- down due to Rita. A refinery in Port Arthur and one in Beaumont have been out of power, and a second oil refinery in Port Arthur's was damaged so badly that it may remain out of service for two to four weeks. Due to this loss in oil caused by Rita the national average for the price of regular gasoline could again top $3.