AP Photo
Vehicles drive through flooded streets in Miami Beach, Fla., as tropical storm force winds and squalls of rain come through as Hurricane Rita passed south of the Florida Keys, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2005. Rita strengthened rapidly on Tuesday to a Category 2 hurricane as it lashed the Florida Keys with flooding rain and strong wind and sparked fears the storm could eventually bring new misery to the Gulf Coast.
AP Photo
Texas Gov. Rick Perry, seated, prepares to tape a public service message about preparation in advance of Hurricane Rita on Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2005, in Austin, Texas. Ray Guy, left, adjusts a filter over the window that faces the Texas Capitol. Rita strengthened into a hurricane as it lashed the Florida Keys with heavy rain and strong wind. It sparks fears that the storm could eventually bring new misery to the Gulf Coast.
GETTY IMAGES/Carlo Allegri
People stand near a sea wall as water churned up by Hurricane Rita crashes over at the southernmost point marker Sept. 20, 2005, in Key West, Fla.
AP Photo
Eugene Robert Thomas, wrapped in plastic bags, sits in front of the shuttered windows of a jewelry store in downtown Key West, Fla. early Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2005 as Hurricane Rita approached the area.
AFP/Getty
An old Chevrolet Impala passes by Havana's Malecon splashed by waves while Hurricane Rita starts barrelling Cuba on Sept. 20, 2005. Rita churned past along the Cuban coast at tropical storm strength and became a hurricane on Tuesday morning, packing sustained winds of 85 mph with higher gusts.
AP
After losing electricity in his home, Dan McCormick came to the Southernmost Point marker in Key West, Fla. Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2005 to look at the ocean before Hurricane Rita hits the area.
GETTY IMAGES/Carlo Allegri
Phil Strater of Key West, Fla., walks along the White Street Fishing Pier in advance of Hurricane Rita on Sept. 20, 2005.
ROBERT SULLIVAN/AFP/Getty Images
A sign over the Florida Turnpike in Fort Lauderdale warns of the mandatory evacuation of the Florida Keys Sept. 19, 2005.
AP/The Miami Herald
Traffic backs up on U.S. 1 outside Florida City, Fla., Sept. 19, 2005, as people evacuate the Florida Keys.
AP
Evacuees disembark a bus as they arrive at a hurricane shelter set up inside Booker T. Washington Senior High School in Miami Sept. 19, 2005.
AP/Highlands Today, Kathy Waters
Patients from Lower Keys Medical Center in Key West, Fla., wait on litters in a plane to be transported to Highlands Regional Medical Center after their arrival in Sebring, Fla., Sept. 19, 2005, after being evacuated in advance of the storm.
AP
Sharon Estinoz marries John and Lisa Williams, from Wabash, Ind., early Monday, Sept. 19, 2005, on a beach in Key West, Fla. The couple planned to leave the area later that day because of a mandatory evacuation order.
AP
Lacking a truck to carry the plywood to cover their home's windows, Aimee Abrahams and Dave Sloat use their convertible to haul the wood Monday, Sept. 19, 2005, in Key West, Fla. as Tropical Storm Rita approaches the area. They plan on staying.
AP
Kelly Friend stands in her front of her Key West, Fla., audio visual store on Monday, Sept. 19, 2005. She is standing in front of the sign she painted that covers her store windows.
AP
A worker boards up windows on a store in Key West, Fla., Monday, Sept. 19, 2005, as Tropical Storm Rita approaches the area.
AP
Maylin Zaragoza, 19, right, and Dominique Mendez, 18, frolic in the high surf as the Carnival Cruise Lines ship Fascination heads out to sea Sept. 19, 2005, in Miami Beach, Fla.
AP
Dark clouds gather and a palm tree blows in the strong winds from Rita on the eastern shore of Nassau, on New Providence Island in the Bahamas, Sept. 19, 2005. Heavy rain and strong winds lashed the Bahamas as the storm crossed the island chain.
