The U.S. National Hurricane Center and all major weather models project that Tropical Storm Rita, which is currently battering the central Bahamas, will enter the Gulf of Mexico and threaten the U.S. oil and natural gas facilities later this week. | Just when prices were beginning to drop |
At 8 a.m. EDT, the center of Rita, which was moving westward at nearly 9 miles per hour, was about 235 miles southeast of Nassau and about 460 miles east-southeast of Key West, Florida. The storm, which could become a hurricane during the next 24 hours, was currently packing maximum sustained winds near 60 mph.
| Florida is taking no chances: Officials ordered residents evacuated from the lower Florida Keys on Monday as Tropical Storm Rita headed toward the island chain, threatening to grow into a hurricane with a potential 8-foot storm surge. The evacuation covered 40,000 people living from below Marathon to Key West. Visitors were ordered to clear out of the entire length of the low-lying Keys, which are connected by just one highway. |
Seven major weather models, including the NHC's, show the storm, which is taking aim at the Florida Keys, will enter the Gulf of Mexico and make landfall between central Texas and the Florida Panhandle late this week. | Computer models here. Forecast track here. Our local forcasters predict she'll come through Texas as Cat 2 - 3. Swell, we need the rain, just not measured in feet. |
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