Statement as of 11:00 PM EDT on September 18, 2005
...Rita moving closer to the southeastern Bahamas...
...New watches and warnings issued for southern Florida...
at 11 PM EDT...0300z... the Hurricane Watch for the Florida Keys has
been upgraded to a Hurricane Warning. A Hurricane Warning is now in
effect for all of the Florida Keys and Florida Bay from Ocean Reef
southward and westward to Dry Tortugas.
At 11 PM EDT... the tropical storm watch for the extreme
southeastern Florida Peninsula has been upgraded to a Tropical
Storm Warning and a Hurricane Watch. A Tropical Storm Warning and a
Hurricane Watch are now in effect from Deerfield Beach southward to
Florida City and continuing westward to East Cape Sable.