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Tropical Storm Rita forms near Bahamas

Posted on: Sunday, 18 September 2005, 22:45 CDT

MIAMI (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Rita, the 17th tropical storm of the busy Atlantic hurricane season, formed near the Bahamas on Sunday and prompted an evacuation order for tourists in the lower Florida Keys.

Forecasters said Rita could be a hurricane by late on Monday, when it was expected to be in the Florida Straits between the Keys and Cuba. The Bahamas, southern Florida, the Keys, Cuba and the Turks and Caicos Islands were all under storm alerts.

At 11 p.m. EDT (0300 GMT), Rita's center was about 295 miles east-southeast of Nassau, Bahamas, and moving west-northwest at about 10 mph (16 kph).

Forecasters said Rita's path could take it into the Gulf of Mexico by Tuesday or Wednesday.

Rita's sustained winds had strengthened to near 50 mph (85 kph), with higher gusts.

Authorities in the Florida Keys, a 110-mile chain of islands off the southern tip of the Florida peninsula, began a phased evacuation, telling visitors to leave the lower Keys between the Seven-Mile Bridge and Key West. Schools were ordered closed on Monday and Tuesday.

The National Hurricane Center cautioned that residents in mobile homes and in low-lying areas should prepare now for possible evacuation.

WARNINGS AND WATCHES

A hurricane warning alerting residents to possible hurricane conditions within 24 hours was in effect for all of the Keys.

A hurricane watch, telling people they could see hurricane conditions in 36 hours, was in effect for the northwestern Bahamas and parts of Cuba.

"Weather conditions will deteriorate slowly on Monday," the National Hurricane Center said. "Hurricane force winds of 74 mph (119 kph) or greater will be possible in the Florida Keys as early as Tuesday morning.

Authorities upgraded the alerts for mainland Florida, putting the southeastern section of the state from Deerfield Beach south to Florida City under a tropical storm warning and hurricane watch.

Southwestern Florida from East Cape Sable to Chokoloskee was put under a tropical storm watch.

A tropical storm warning was in effect for the Turks and Caicos islands, a British territory near the Bahamas, and for the central and southeast Bahamas.

The Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to November 30, produces an average of about 11 tropical storms or hurricanes. But forecasters had predicted an above-average season with as many as 21 storms due to high sea-surface temperatures and other conditions favorable to hurricane formation.

Hurricane Katrina has been blamed for at least 883 deaths after it hit the U.S. Gulf coast in late August.

Tropical Storm Philippe, meanwhile, was upgraded to a hurricane as sustained winds reached 75 mph (120 kph) but was no immediate threat to any land.

Philippe was about 390 miles east of the Leeward Islands of the Caribbean. It was moving on a north-northwest track that would take it through the open Atlantic for the next few days.

Source: REUTERS

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