Hurricane Rita Should Never Be Forgotten

Jon Erdman
Published: September 22,2015

At its peak intensity, Hurricane Rita was stronger than all but three other Atlantic Basin hurricanes, occupying the elite sub-900 millibar minimum surface pressure club (minimum pressure: 895 millibars).
Responsible for an estimated $12 billion in damage, it still resides in the top 10 costliest U.S. hurricanes list, even after followed by Ike (2008), Irene (2011) and Sandy (2012).
(MORE: Retired Atlantic Hurricane Names)
Simply enter "Hurricane Rita forgotten" in a search engine, and you'll see many stories written about this forgotten hurricane.
How was this intense, destructive late September 2005 hurricane so overshadowed?

1) Katrina

Spinning up less than one month after Katrina ravaged Mississippi and southeast Louisiana, national attention was still focused on how a 21st century U.S. hurricane, given today's forecast technology, managed to claim more than 1,500 lives.
Additional storm surge flooding during Rita in southeast Louisiana prolonged the Katrina recovery. By early October, all flood water was finally removed from New Orleans.

2) Houston Missed

As Rita reached its peak intensity, America's fourth largest city, Houston, was directly in the path, triggering a mass evacuation (more on that later).
Rita's center, however, made landfall near the Sabine River -- the border between the Texas and Louisiana coasts -- sparing Houston, but clobbering southwest Louisiana and the Beaumont/Port Arthur, Texas areas.

3) Low "direct" death toll

Seven deaths, not from the evacuation, were directly related to Hurricane Rita.

4) Wilma

Exactly one month later, Hurricane Wilma clobbered South Florida, including the Miami/Fort Lauderdale/West Palm Beach metro area, inflicting an estimated $21 billion damage, almost double that of Rita.
What's more, Wilma set a new Atlantic Basin pressure record -- 882 millibars -- while still in the western Caribbean Sea, 13 millibars lower than Rita's peak strength.
(MORE: 10 Most Intense Atlantic Hurricanes)
All that said, Hurricane Rita's impacts were unforgettable in two ways:
A deadly evacuation: According to a 2006 report from the Texas House of Representatives, an estimated 3.7 million residents evacuated from Corpus Christi to Beaumont in, perhaps, the largest evacuation in U.S. history. The ensuing gridlock left motorists stranded without gas, adequate food or restrooms, all during a triple-digit heat wave. The Texas House report cited up to 118 may have died in the evacuation itself. Many may have evacuated unnecessarily.
Southwest Louisiana towns wiped out:  For parts of southwest Louisiana, Rita was every bit as bad as Katrina was for Mississippi and southeast Louisiana. Holly Beach, Cameron, Creole and Grand Cheniere were leveled by up to a 15-foot storm surge. Surge flooding extended as far north as Interstate 10 (about 25 miles inland), swamping Lake Charles, Louisiana, in up to 6 feet of water. An 8-12 foot storm surge was estimated in parts of Vermillion, Iberia and St. Mary Parishes, while a 3-5 foot surge inundated Port Arthur, Texas.
Rita also spawned 92 tornadoes from Sept. 23-25, according to Dr. Greg Forbes, severe weather expert for The Weather Channel.