Strengthened Hurricane Rita Moving Into Gulf of Mexico

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urricane Rita strengthened Tuesday as it hit the Florida Keys with heavy rain and strong winds, and forecasters said the storm's track could possibly take it toward the already storm-damaged Gulf Coast region later this week.

Oil companies Chevron Corp., Shell Oil and BP Plc began evacuating employees from offshore oil and gas platforms and drilling rigs as the storm threatened the Gulf of Mexico, the Associated Press reported.

Crude oil prices rose $4.39 a barrel Monday to $67.39, the biggest single-day increase on record, on reports of the storm's impending path, though prices fell back in Tuesday's New York Mercantile Exchange trading. (Click here for related coverage.)

Rita evolved from a tropical storm to a Category 1 and then into a stronger Category 2 hurricane Tuesday as it moved to the west just south of Key West, Fla., and into the Gulf of Mexico, where it could intensify further, weather reports said.

Forecasters' projections had Rita tracking west across the Gulf, most likely making landfall Texas or Mexico later in the week, although it could turn north toward the Gulf states that were ravaged by Hurricane Katrina in late August.

Katrina had also started as a low-level hurricane and tropical storm off Florida before it moved into the Gulf and strengthened into a Category 5 hurricane — the strongest of the five levels — before it hit land near New Orleans as a Category 4 storm on Aug. 29, causing extensive regional damage, flooding and destruction.

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin (D) suspended a return of residents to the city on news of the potential storm, which could cause floods even if it only caught the surrounding rain from the storm, AP said.

Officials of Galveston, Texas called for a voluntary evacuation, and Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco (D) urged everyone in the southwest part of the state to prepare to evacuate, AP reported.