Hurricane Rita skirted by the Florida Keys on Tuesday with high winds, torrential tropical downpours, and powerful storm surge as it pushed into the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean onto the Florida Keys. Even though the eye of the storm pass to the south of the Key West, it did make a ever so slight jog to the north according to Chief Meteorologist Brian Norcross of CBS 4 News, bringing the core of the hurricane closer to Key West. Using their advanced storm tracking technically, Norcross demonstrated where the eye of the storm was 12 hours ago to where it was at present. Hurricane Force gusts were clocked at 80 mph at that time.
A mandatory evacuation order was in place for the Florida Keys and only about 50% of the residents took advantage and got out. The "die hard conchs" decided to stay and not evacuate the Keys. These are the people who are long time residents of the Florida Keys and have lived through many hurricanes. Some said that this is only a category one storm and they are not evacuating. If this were a category 3 storm, then the would probable get out.
As you know, there is only one road in, and one road out. That road is U.S. 1. Florida National Guard troops are out and said that there is no structural damage to that road. Just a lot of debris.
City Manager Julio Avael says the city will be reopen to residents beginning at 6 am on Wednesday. However, tourists should wait until Friday to give time for Hotel employees to get the businesses ready for them to return.
What's next for hurricane Rita?
Joe Bastardi of AccuWeather.com predicts Hurricane Rita to become a category 5 hurricane and make landfall somewhere on the Texas coast, possibly near Galveston. He also predicts that Hurricane Rita will be stronger than Hurricane Carla that hit Texas back in 1961. As you know, Hurricane Katrina beat out Camille as the worst storm to hit Louisiana and Mississippi.
According to Bastardi, the central pressure of hurricane Rita is right around 967 mb, which is very close to category 3 status. He expects that central pressure to drop to around 920 mb by the time it makes landfall. He says that conditions are ripe and favorable for this type of strengthening as high pressure will move toward the east and the Gulf of Mexico is still quite warm.
Bastardi also urges all Texans along the coast to get out and get out now, because the big one is coming.
Joe Bastardi is an Expert Senior Forecaster at AccuWeather, and he is heard daily on a number of different radio stations. He graduated with a B.S. in meteorology from Penn State in 1978 when he immediately started working with AccuWeather.
About The Author Nick Roy is an HR Researcher, Consultant, and freelance business writer. His website, http://www.nickroy.com, currently serves 20,000 visitors every month in an effort to be a quality resource for human resources management in their companies. He currently holds a Master of Business Administration and Master of Arts in Human Resources Management from Hawaii Pacific University, and a Bachelor of Science in Hospitality Management from Florida Metropolitan University, Fort Lauderdale. He is also currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Organizational Change from Hawaii Pacific University, with theses research on