The buzz at the moment is all about the twin hurricanes that struck the Gulf of Mexico last month. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita were two of the most destructive hurricanes in living memory. On the 29th August Katrina struck New Orleans and the surrounding coastline head-on. Hurricane Katrina was officially up-graded to Category 5 as she made landfall with sustained wind speeds in excess of 155 mph. That was enough to completely decimate the coastline to the east of New Orleans. New Orleans itself fared no better when a storm surge breached the city's levees sending flood waters crashing through the streets of many districts. The loss of life was terrible; upwards of 1000 at the last count. That, together with a lack of immediate aid at the local, state and federal level left survivors in abject misery and suffering, and President Bush's popularity rating at rock bottom.

Just 3 weeks later Hurricane Rita made landfall along the Texas / Louisiana border as a Category 3 hurricane with winds in excess of 111 mph. This was somewhat fortunate in that Rita never made a direct hit on either of the main population centres of Texas ( Houston / Galveston ) or Louisiana ( New Orleans ). Initially, it was believed that there had been no significant loss of life or destruction to property. But, over the next couple of days as crews got to the hardest hit areas, it was discovered that initial estimates for Rita had been on the low side and that some areas had indeed suffered substantial wind and water damage.

I tracked Hurricane Rita on Google Earth from the time it entered the gulf until shortly after making landfall. Check the Hurricane Rita links at the top of the page.

Dave Foster