Gulf Braces for More Destruction

UPDATE 1p. Tues (Reuters)

KEY WEST, Fla. - Rita strengthened rapidly on Tuesday to a Category 2 hurricane as it lashed the Florida Keys with flooding rain and strong wind and sparked fears the storm could eventually bring new misery to the Gulf Coast.

Rita went from a tropical storm with top sustained wind of 70 mph early Tuesday to a hurricane with 100 mph wind by early afternoon as it passed just south of the Keys.

(Reuters) [excerpts; emphasis added]
- New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin on Monday suspended a plan to bring residents back to New Orleans and told all those now in the stricken city to leave because of fears a new storm headed into the Gulf of Mexico could swamp damaged levees and wreak new havoc.

Tropical Storm Rita was moving west from the Atlantic Ocean and expected to enter the Gulf this week, where forecasters said it could grow into a major hurricane.

Current predictions point to a Texas landfall for Rita at week's end, but Nagin said there was a chance it could hit a New Orleans, still reeling from Hurricane Katrina three weeks ago.

"We are suspending all re-entry into the city of New Orleans," Nagin said in a news conference.

"Our levee systems are still in a very weak condition, our pumping stations are still not at full capacity and any type of storm that heads this way and hits us will put the east bank of Orleans Parish in very significant harm's way, so I'm encouraging everyone to leave," Nagin said.

"If we have anything over nine inches of rain and a three-foot surge in any storm we will once again have significant flooding on the east bank," he said.

"Prepare yourself to evacuate Wednesday or even earlier."

Private forecasters said there was a 40 percent chance that damaging hurricane-force winds would directly affect key energy production areas in the Gulf.

Rita was likely to become a major hurricane with winds of at least 111 mph (178 kph) as it drew strength from warm Gulf waters after passing over the Florida Keys on Tuesday, forecasters at the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said.

Note: According to other reports, the threat to Gulf oil facilities in Texas sent the price of oil up by $7 a barrel on Monday, the largest one day rise in history.