Hurricane Rita was the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded and the most intense tropical cyclone ever observed in the Gulf of Mexico. Rita caused $12 billion in damage on the U.S. Gulf Coast in September 2005. Rita was the seventeenth named storm, tenth hurricane, fifth major hurricane, and third Category 5 hurricane of the historic 2005 Atlantic hurricane season.

Rita made landfall on September 24 between Sabine Pass, Texas, and Johnsons Bayou, Louisiana, as a Category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale with 120 mph winds according to the Tropical Cyclone Report. It continued on through parts of southeast Texas. The storm surge caused extensive damage along the Louisiana and extreme southeastern Texas coasts and destroyed some coastal communities. The storm killed seven people directly; many others died in evacuations and from indirect effects.

On September 7, 2005, a tropical wave emerged off the west coast of Africa and entered the northern Atlantic Ocean. Failing to produce organized, deep convection, the system tracked west-northwestward towards the Lesser Antilles. By September 12, a cold front became stationary several hundred miles north of the Leeward Islands and gradually weakened. A surface trough later detached from the dissipating system and moved slowly westward, north of Puerto Rico. By September 17, the ill-defined tropical wave merged with the trough, triggering the development of concentrated shower and thunderstorm activity. Aided by a decrease in wind shear, the system continued to organize and the National Hurricane Center (NHC) estimated that it developed into a tropical depression around 0000 UTC on September 18. At this time, the depression was situated roughly 80 mi (130 km) east of Grand Turk in the Turks and Caicos.

Rita Guerra (born Rita Maria de Azevedo Mafra Guerra on October 22, 1967) is a Portuguese singer.

Born and raised in Lisbon, she has been very successful in her home country of Portugal. She has long competed in the Portuguese national pre-selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. She first participated in 1992, making it to the national final. With the song "Meu amor inventado em mim" she reached second place. She finally sang in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003, in Riga, Latvia, where she finished 22nd with 13 points.

Since 1989, Rita is a regular feature on the shows of Casino do Estoril. She set foot for the first time on the casino’s stage side by side Adamo, a well known French singer. “Pormenores sem a mínima importância” was her debut album, featuring Rui Veloso, a famous rock singer and composer, and the group Taxi. “Independence Day” was her second album, a CD released in 1995 sang only in English. Approaching ethnic music in the album “Da Gama”, Rita Guerra got the help of maestro Pedro Osório and Paulo de Carvalho, Portuguese representative at ESC 1974. In 2000, Rita and Beto, one of the backing singers in Riga, released an album called “Desencontros”.