Hurricane Rita

Back to back hurricanes...they are common to the Gulf Coast and the Carolinas. It happened back in 2005, first with Hurricane Katrina and then Hurricane Rita.

Here in the Coastal Empire and Lowcountry, this situation isn't so common, and I will explain why.

But first, let's head back to 2005 when Hurricane Rita became the fourth most intense Atlantic hurricane.

Hurricane Rita slammed into the Texas and Louisiana coast on September 24, 2005, destroying thousands of properties and causing an estimated $9.4 billion in damages--making it the ninth-costliest storm in U.S. history, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The storm killed seven people directly; many others died in evacuations and from indirect effects.

Due largely to what many have called the largest two day evacuation in the country's history, many people died in the weeks following Rita's passing. The stress brought on by 98 degree heat in cars that were forced to turn off their air conditioners on the gridlocked highways was intense and the elderly in particular developed a large number of health problems in the weeks following the storm. For weeks funeral homes in the Beaumont area were unable to respond to the large number of requests by family members to retrieve the bodies of their loves ones to the north. These deaths are not currently counted as officially caused by the hurricane.

The use of the name "Rita" reflects the record-breaking activity of the 2005 hurricane season: only once before had a name starting with "R" (the seventeenth name in the list each season) been used for an Atlantic storm, in 1995 for Hurricane Roxanne. The formation of Rita actually marked the third time that seventeen storms had formed in a season since tropical storm naming began in 1950. However, in the 1969 season, under less-sophisticated forecasting systems, many tropical storms were not named. The seventeenth storm of 1969 was named Hurricane Martha.

Other Records set by Rita:
1. Earliest 17th named storm in Atlantic hurricane season
2. Fourth most-intense storm in Atlantic basin
3. Greatest one-hour pressure drop in Atlantic basin
4. Most intense hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico (breaking record set by Hurricane Katrina only three weeks earlier)
5. When Rita reached Category 5 strength on the 21st of September, it was the third Category 5 hurricane that year, making 2005 the only year with more than two Category 5 hurricanes.

Now from a local perspective...how do hurricanes form and why do some say we are the lucky ones?

A hurricane is a huge storm that begins over a warm sea. They form near the equator and then start to head toward the poles. It's through the warm waters where hurricanes gather heat and energy, and they can get stronger and stronger.

Hurricanes can get up to 600 miles across and have strong winds of 75 to 200 miles per hour. Each hurricane usually lasts about a week, and they move around 10 to 20 miles per hour over the open ocean water.

Hurricanes spin counter-clockwise around an eye, which is the center of the storm. The eye is the calmest part of the storm. It has light winds and fair weather.

Finally, hurricanes can come onto land. And when they do, they can bring heavy rains, strong winds and large waves. And they can cause a tremendous amount of damage.

But here in the Coastal Empire and Lowcountry, it has been quite some time since we have seen such damage. Reason why? Some say it's luck, while others say it's geography.

Truth be told...geography actually plays a big role.

Take a look at a map and check out where we're located. A point from Cape Hatteras down to Miami, we are one of the most western locations on the coast. Some call this the "Savannah Bite."

This is a good place to be. Tropical Storms usually travel east to west...off the African coast and toward the Caribbean Islands. After this, many storm will travel north...usually away from the East Coast. This limits direct hits.

But since direct hits have happened before, it could definitely happen again.