Abstract
Hurricane Rita made landfall as a Category 3 storm on September 24, 2005, near the Louisiana/Texas border (Figure 1) and significantly altered the geomorphology and coastal habitats as well as endemic vegetation by the effect of a sustained storm surge (highest reported elevation was 14.9 feet above NAVD 88) and by the high waves generated by the hurricane-induced wind. The low relief characteristic of the southwestern Louisiana coast, which lays in the right-front quadrant of the hurricane, exacerbated the destruction of coastal infrastructure. The present study analyzes storm surge data reported from the region and relates them to aerial imagery secured two weeks after landfall; the objective was to estimate the impact of Hurricane Rita along the southwestern Louisiana coast.