Impacts of Hurricane Rita on the Beaches of Western Louisiana
By Hilary F. Stockdon, Laura A. Fauver, Asbury H. Sallenger, Jr., and C. Wayne Wright
Hurricane Rita made landfall as a category 3 storm in western Louisiana in late September 2005, 1 month following Hurricane Katrina’s devastating landfall in the eastern part of the State. Large waves and storm surge inundated the low- elevation coastline, destroying many communities and causing extensive coastal change including beach, dune, and marsh erosion. northwest, taking aim at western Louisiana and its already Introduction hurricane-weary residents. In the early morning hours of September Just 3 weeks after 24, 2005, Rita made landfall Hurricane Katrina made as a category 3 storm in landfall on the Mississippi southwestern Louisiana River Delta in Louisiana, near the Texas border Tropical Storm Rita (fig. 1). had formed and was Successive headed toward the landfalls of Katrina Gulf of Mexico. and Rita in the On September 22, northern Gulf of 2005, over the warm Mexico region waters of the Loop devastated many Current in the Gulf of the barrier of Mexico, Rita islands, mainland reached its maximum beaches, and coastal intensity as a category communities in 5 hurricane. With Louisiana. Across 155-kn (knots, or nautical the impacted region, miles per hour) winds and a wide variety of a minimum pressure of 897 coastal responses to the millibars—the fourth-lowest hurricanes were observed. central pressure on record for an In some areas, such as the Atlantic hurricane (Knabb and Chandeleur Islands during others, 2006)—Rita turned Katrina, the barrier islands were toward the north- completely stripped of sand, and marsh areas were eroded (see Sallenger and others, this volume). In other locations, large overwash deposits were formed, contributing to the landward migration of the barrier islands. On some beaches, the effects were less severe, and coastal change was confined to the foreshore region. Using topography data acquired before and after the storm, we begin to quantify these observed responses and work towards an understanding of the 120 Science and the Storms: the USGS Response to the Hurricanes of 2005
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