Louisiana Hurricanes

Less than a month after Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana faced another strong hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico. Rita formed on Septemer 18, 2005, near the Bahamas and quickly reached a category 5 status with winds over 180 mph and a peak pressure of 895 mbar or 26.43 inHg. This strength leaves Rita as 4th strongest Atlantic Hurricane on record by pressure. Hurricane Rita made landfall as a category 3 hurricane in Johnson's Bayou, near the Louisiana-Texas border. Rita brought a very strong storm surge ranging from 7 to 18 feet along the coast and rainfall of up to 16 inches to areas already damaged by Hurricane Katrina. The damage from Hurricane Rita left many without homes or electricity totaling $18.5 billion and caused around 120 deaths across four states. Rita dissipated by September 26 after traveling northwards to Michigan. 

Listed below are some recommended subject headings for searching for Hurricane Rita. Full steps on how to use these subject terms can be found on this LibGuide's homepage.

Disasters -- Louisiana -- New Orleans -- History -- Anecdotes.
Disaster victims -- Louisiana -- New Orleans -- Anecdotes.
Hurricane Rita,
Hurricane Rita, 2005 -- Economic aspects -- Louisiana.
Hurricane Rita, 2005 -- Environmental aspects.
Hurricane Rita, 2005 -- Government policy.
Hurricane Rita, 2005 -- Personal narratives.
Hurricane Rita, 2005 -- Pictorial works.
Hurricane Rita, 2005 -- Press coverage.
Hurricane Rita, 2005 -- Social aspects -- Louisiana -- Cameron Parish.
Hurricanes.
Hurricanes -- Gulf States.
Hurricanes -- Louisiana.
Hurricanes -- Louisiana -- Cameron Parish.
Louisiana -- Hurricanes.

A few of the collections held by LSU Libraries Special Collections are listed below. Additional collections may be found utilizing the subject headings listed in the sections above. 

Books and other published materials

Manuscript collections

Oral Histories

Images in the banner from left to right are numbered below 1 to 8.

1. Hurricane Audrey  2. Hurricane Betsy  3. Hurricane Camille  4. Hurricane Andrew  
5. Hurricane Katrina  6. Hurricane Rita  7. Hurricane Gustav  8. Hurricane Ike

Images 1-4 are in the public domain because they contain materials that originally came from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, taken or made as part of an employee's official duties. 
Images 5-8 are in the public domain in the United States because they were solely created by NASA. NASA copyright policy states that "NASA material is not protected by copyright unless noted". (See NASA copyright policy page.)