Hurricane Rita, The Forgotten Hurricane

[007panthers]

i lived in my shop and a travel trailer for over a year. i spent two christmas' in it because of rita.

[Categorycinque]

I don't think Rita was forgotten by the media because of Katrina's death toll. The media was lazy in leaving NO after Katrina preferring the unfolding political tragedy in that city over an approaching Cat. 4 like Rita. The US media is very bias, drunk on entertainment rather than news, and incredibly lazy. Rita hurt La. badly and no one noticed.

[StormChaser121]

Everyone just kept talking about katrina. Even right after Rita just hit. I was really mad that the only people talking about Rita was....KFDM 6. and other local stations. Rita was by far the worst one besides Ike that hit southeast Texas and south central louisiana

[Rachel70611]

@StormChaser121 I couldn't agree more. Just because we didn't have a bunch of hood rats shooting at those trying to help and then whining and crying because they didn't leave after being told to evacuate, the national media still makes a big deal about New Orleans and Katrina. I felt sorry for the aged and handicapped and the stray animals in New Orleans, but felt nothing but disgust and hate for the scum who were shooting at National Guard choppers who were there to help.

[ridgerunner721601]

One good thing came of Rita for me. I found a little gray cat with four white socks at the Omega Protein pogey plant after the storm. I named her Rita and I don't know how she survived. She has it made now. She sleeps in bed, has fresh dry and moist food and water. In the summer she's in my air conditioned home and in the winter it's warm. But when there's bad weather she hides under the couch or bed. The only reason I can think of is the storm must have made such a bad impression on her.

[ALLQUANNAS]

Me and my fam ran from Rita and i still have flash backs from bein caught in the storm

[pearsonbowhunter]

hurricane ike wasnt too bad here in lumberton my dad stayed for that but when rita hit i had to get on the dozer and push trees out of the way down my 1 mile road. you couldnt even walk down the road or even tell it was there. god was with us that day and our home. one tree hit out house. it only took off one shingal. and we had no water damage. no one on my steet was as forturnate as us. our property and our naborhood wasnt the same...

[Pmuree86]

someone needs to upload the SWLA 7 News DVD of Hurricane Rita.

[dancerlifee151]

ii was only seven during hurricane rita and i had no idea how bad it was. i was just happy that we didnt have to go to school for three weeks! now that i am older and i watch these videos as im older and more mature i realize how bad it was

[sid3258]

my family had a camp down in pecan island louisiana .everything was destroyed seemed like the camps played switch places. some were in the middle of the road.some were in the water. it was horrible. we drove around to help out and i was horrified at the destruction. animals such as cows were buried half deep in filthy mud trying to save their already dead calfs next to them. and the stench will never leave my nose. i have nightmares still.

[jaegerhund]

All this brings back not so great memories. You can keep these cat 3-5 hurricanes.

[missbonina]

I was born and raised in Port Neches and remember having to evacuate about 5 times during my years through school and the hurricane would always turn at the last minute. I never thought one would hit and it was insane to see my hometown (I moved) on CNN and Fox news. I miss my hometown area of the Golden Triangle and it is crazy to think that the next time I visit it won't look the same as when I was last there.

[thekill161]

i live in port arthur texas which got most of the storm it was horrible

[Cabanangel]

@thekill161 No way dude, i lived in Port arthur too. we had to move obviously. we had a family owned business in Nederland and my parents had to pay for repairs for the store and the house. It's been about 4 years since we moved and not a day goes by when i dont think about how good a childhood i had down there. good luck to you ;)

[jeshpeter146]

I live in Prairieville, Louisiana which is 30 miles south of BTR and my friends chimmy fell through their roof, and we were far away from any hurricane force winds.

[kissmydubs]

I remember evacuating tfrom sulphur la to batonrouge la to stay with my moms sister..Thats where me my parents and siblings all met up. Remember the i-10 traffic bumber to bumper all the way there then there were no hotels open because katrina vics were staying in them all.

[guardiegirly]

this is a beautiful video!

[jspmfr]

i was there...in dam-b texas. right between jasper and woodville on 190. with my grandma. her birthday is sept. 26th...she was killed in a car wreck before christmas. what the hell was that..an 84 year old christian who never done any wrong..to survive a hurricane like that only to be taken by a selfish cell phone user?

[SOfweet]

My deepest sympathy for the loss of your Grandma. I know the folks in Dam-B are terrific people.  The damage was very bad in that area. You might even recognize some of the photos from the Dam-B area in this video.

[hometownkid13]

this will be ike next year

[SOfweet]

I'm working on Ike now since the eye went right over us. I have noticed that Ike, too, is being quickly forgotten.

[nickelfilling1]

@SOfweet And Ike isn't forgotten too.

[monkeyluv1964]

i lived in henry south of highway 14 in louisiana when rita hit. I lost everything i owned and all most people remember is katrina. FEMA helped out some and i thank them. In 2008 we had gustav and ike it has taken fema 3 weeks to respond I have lost my home AGAIN and my place of employment has been destroyed. I am so sick of this government i want to scream. But like most cajuns i will rebuild and move on. This is my home for better or for worse i will survive.

[SOfweet]

Your determination is admirable. I hope you don't have to got through this again.

[nickelfilling1]

@SOfweet Rita is not a forgotten Hurricane. Thousands of people still remember her destruction.

[beriadanwenacrux]

@monkeyluv1964 I couldn't agree more! I am lucky enough to live further north (about 1 mile North of Gauthier road) so although there was very very extensive devastating damage, most of which was wind-related, it paled in comparison to Cameron Parish. People usually contribute most of the devastation as being a direct result from flooding or wind but once the water goes down things don't get easier and thousands more lose their homes to mold. I have to say the thing that irked me the most

[beriadanwenacrux]

@monkeyluv1964 was how the majority or news sources in the U.S. had it make landfall in Galveston! In fact, Galveston was on THE GOOD SIDE of Rita! As much Rita took from me I still consider it to be one of the best things that has happened to me. Rita really made me readjust my priorities and helped me to see what was really important in life. I was amazed with how superfluous most material things were (minus air conditioning) and how much LOVE there was in this community. We are AWESOME!

[nickelfilling1]

@monkeyluv1964 I feel so sorry for you and your family. And you might want to get ready again. There is a humonguous low pressure system in the Gulf of Mexico which could become a Tropical Depression. It's name will be Rina if it reaches Tropical Storm strength.

[Bonadea49]

Never take for granted the devastation weather can leave in its path. Rita leveled five communities in Louisiana; Texas coastal towns were flooded; and approximately 100 miles inland Rita destroyed more trees, homes, and lives. I will never forget Rita.

[phantomfromhell5]

I'm from Port arthur and we left through Rita. When we got back Almost all of out trees were gone and out Carport was completly tore up. We were lucky that no trees feel on our house. It makes me angry to that Rita has been forgotten and anytime they mention it it is always followed behind Katrina. But it took months to get Port arthur back to the way it was.

[loverocks3]

First Hurricane Rita, then stupid Gustav. I'm terrified that I won't have a house, AGAIN!!! We just got done with our repairs a few months ago because the damage was so bad.

[innana88]

I'm so sorry. I've been working in the Gulf much of the last two years (both Rita and Katrina recovery). My heart is with you and everyone down there right now. I was working in Beaumont, TX for a while, but I also went to Cameron. It still amazes me that people don't know about the devestation of Rita. I'm a teacher in MI now. My students will know.

[blueduck422]

Please let the students know that Rita was worse than Katrina the only reason that La. was so bad is because of the levees not the hurricane, Rita was much worse and ten times the damage.I myself live in Silsbee about 20 miles north of Beaumont so i do have firsthand knowledge of what Rita did. I'm just so sick of people blowing off Rita like it never happened please let your students know the real truth. Troy from Texas

[Cammandoglock]

The Reason Blacks in New Orleans didnt leave is because they were waiting on that Welfare Deposite, Plus they wanted to Loot the stores, sure, they knew exactly what they were gonna do...thats a fact......

[xHOLLAx23]

Of course Hurricane Rita was forgotten... because we actually got our asses up and cleaned everything up fast. People in New Orleans didn't want to help out, so they left it to only a few good people. Everyone helped out here after Rita.

[beriadanwenacrux]

@xHOLLAx23 Being a resident of very South Lake Charles and also making incredibly frequent trips to New Orleans I very strongly disagree. Things weren't as bad here because we had just seen what had happened with Katrina and N.O. residents. N.O. is much more densely populated with much much higher poverty rates than Cameron and Cal. Parishes. Much more people there didn't have the resources to evacuate and getting on hot buses in August is not very appealing. In the end it wasnt the storm

[beriadanwenacrux]

@xHOLLAx23 it wasn't the storm that killed people. Katrina was a powerful storm but the overwhelming majority of damage received was NOT from the storm but from the failure of the levees, the failure of the levees was a man-made disaster that was preventable. That is why it was so tragic. I am under no circumstances criticizing the reactions and our spirit after Rita hit or the power of the storm. I lost everything in the storm and I couldn't of gotten through without neighbors but people in N.O

[beriadanwenacrux]

@xHOLLAx23 people in N.O. did not do anything wrong. They were strong. They helped carry each other too. There were 1,836 confirmed deaths directly related to Katrina, needlessly and at the fault of the government, federal and state. There were only 7 direct fatalities during Rita. That is the difference.

[kbrtiger22]

Of course people forgot about Rita in the news media... there's not much political hay to made out of it.

[billybassman21]

I still make fun of the people that evacuated that lived north of downtown. I think the fact that most Houstonians had never been through a hurricane (Alicia 1983) and seeing what happened in New Orleans made people panick. I also blame Bill White! The truth is most people that live in a brick building and are not in a flood plain are safe from a hurricane. Just have food and water on hand and stay away from windows. Also remember when you leave the theifs have a field day with your house.

[bradford1028]

i read two thing on hurricane rita anniv. and it was both louisiana's news. Not world, not even nation. I guess since they rebulit all by them selves and are not still waiting for the government. THere's no news there, but us that went through it remember.

[jenna4freedom]

My brother lkives in Grand Chenier and so do friends of mine. I had the chanceto finally go down there this past summer. Most of the people down there are still waiting for their insurance money or Road Home(Ha what a joke) money. It is not fair, everyone has forgotten about them, but maybe they'll remember them when they have to gothrough what they have and still are going through.

[pbatts77]

i will assure you will not see much of any mention of a hurricane rita anniv. they seem to forget it was a stronger hurricane than katrina.

[tgergrlz]

I feel the same as all of you. I hate when I mention i've been through a hurricane and people not from here assume it was katrina. They only forgot us because we weren't on our rooftops crying for the goverment to save us. We left when they told us too

[RiverBirch1967]

Thank you for making this video. I too, have been angry that Rita got less attention than Katrina. Both were horrible in and of themselves. Tell the people who forgot Rita about my house being squished.

[jldisme]

I hate that Rita has been almost post-scripted as Katrina/Rita. It will never be that way for all the people whose lives were devasted by this storm, especially in Jasper, Tyler and Newton counties. I pray for all the people still trying to rebuild.

[alyssamichelle09]

yeah it seems like everyone completely forgot that rita came through