New Orleans awaits 'sister' of Katrina

• Hurricane Rita caused major damage in Florida last night with 85 mph winds

• Thousands have been evacuated from the Florida Keys area

• The storm could cause a further four feet of flooding in New Orleans

Key quote

"There is deep concern about this storm causing more flooding in New Orleans. If it were to rain a lot, there is concern ... that the levees [flood defences] might break." - George Bush

Story in full HURRICANE Rita, the latest unwelcome visitor of America's most intense storm season in years, strengthened significantly into a "category two" storm last night with maximum sustained winds of 100mph.

As Rita lashed Florida and picked up strength on its journey west into the warmer waters of the Gulf of Mexico, weather experts were keeping a fearful eye on a predicted future track that looked eerily similar to Katrina.

With the latest hurricane threatening new devastation to the Gulf Coast states, the storm-weary residents of New Orleans, many of whom have only just returned to start picking up the pieces of homes flooded or destroyed by Katrina three weeks ago, were ordered once more to leave their stricken city.

The storm - the ninth of the six-month hurricane season that began on 1 June - could make landfall in Texas or Louisiana by the end of the week and millions living along the coast were urged to flee.

Aaron Broussard, head of emergency management in New Orleans' Jefferson Parish, warned: "Mother Nature isn't nearly finished with us yet. I'm going to tell our people: 'Don't unpack yet.'"

That warning was emphasised by George Bush, the president, who made his fifth trip to the region to survey hurricane recovery efforts yesterday. "There is deep concern about this storm causing more flooding in New Orleans," he said. "If it were to rain a lot, there is concern ... that the levees [flood defences] might break."

The White House added that Mr Bush had named Frances Fragos Townsend, his in-house homeland security adviser, to lead an administration investigation of "what went wrong and what went right" in the federal response to Katrina, which had category five strength on the international scale.

Although the centre of the storm passed about 50 miles south of Key West, the islands were deluged with rain, knocking out electricity for tens of thousands and sending floodwaters across the only road to the mainland. Flooding was also reported in areas of Miami and a tornado was spotted near Fort Lauderdale. State officials said conditions were still too dangerous to send out emergency workers and National Guard troops to assess the extent of any damage.

The public reaction to the oncoming storm was shaped by the havoc that Katrina wrought in Louisiana and Mississippi.

About half of the 26,000 population of Key West, America's most southerly city, observed an evacuation order.

Jimmy Weekley, the mayor of Key West, said: "In the past, only about 25 per cent would evacuate. We think because Katrina is still fresh in everyone's minds and they saw the devastation in New Orleans, a lot of people decided they needed to seek safe haven somewhere else."

State officials believe that more than 45,000 people left the 120-mile island chain before Rita moved in. Residents of hospitals and nursing homes were airlifted to safety, homes and businesses were boarded up and schools closed.

Key West resident Lisa Jones, 43, who was boarding a bus bound for a Miami shelter with her daughter Destiny, five, said: "Katrina has a lot to do with it. Look at all the death and destruction. This is just an island. It could go in one sweep."

Although Rita's projected track makes a hit on Texas more likely, the response to the threat in Louisiana is markedly different from that which preceded Katrina.

Ray Nagin, the New Orleans mayor who was heavily criticised for not providing transport for the city's poorer residents to evacuate then, announced that fleets of buses would be available this time.

"There is another hurricane getting ready to approach us and nobody can control that," Mr Nagin said. "We have a plan and we will implement it."

The Army Corps of Engineers said rainfall of up to nine inches could overload the New Orleans levee system causing a further four feet of flooding.

Much of New Orleans and its suburbs remain largely abandoned, but many key routes teem with contractors and relief workers, along with thousands of residents allowed back to see their homes. Roadblocks have been put in place to prevent more from entering the area.

Peggy Wilson, whose home took in several feet of water, is living at her mother's house on the city's outskirts.

"We're all going to be jumpy about every storm, every drop of rain, every breath of wind for the rest of our lives," she said. "If the officials say evacuate from this area, we'll evacuate. At this point, it doesn't matter what the storm does because there's nothing left to damage, so it's just our lives we have left to protect now." Richard Hampton, assistant fire chief for New Orleans, said: "If Rita comes here, we'll be dealing with an incident within an incident. You could call it a nightmare on top of another nightmare."

The 2005 Atlantic storm season has been so active that weathermen are running out of names for the tempests, which are named in alphabetical order. Only Stan, Tammy, Vince and Wilma remain - the letters U, X and Z are not used. If more hurricanes form after Wilma, forecasters will move on to the Greek alphabet.

"We're going to have Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Rama-Lama Ding-Dong, you name it," said Mr Broussard.