Tropical Storm Rita to enter Gulf

NEW YORK (Reuters) – 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.

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.

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.

NHC will issue another advisory at 11 a.m. Position: Lat.
22,7 degrees North

Long. 74.6 degrees West

(235 miles southeast of Nassau) Track: Moving west at 9 mph
Strength: 60 mph maximum sustained winds