By The Associated Press

Major developments in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina:

– City officials race to prepare for a possible strike from Hurricane Rita. Experts warn that even a glancing blow from the storm and as little as 3 inches of rain could swamp the city’s levees as early as Thursday.

– Government engineers and private contractors worked furiously to repair the system of levees and pumps that protect the below-sea-level city.

– Rita strengthens into a 100-mph Category 2 storm as it barrels past the Florida Keys into the Gulf of Mexico. The storm is projected to cross the gulf and hit Texas by the end of the week.

– The danger from Rita prompts Mayor Ray Nagin to suspend the phased reopening of the city and order a new round of evacuations.

– President Bush makes his fifth trip to the Hurricane Katrina zone, meeting with leaders in Gulfport, Miss., then receiving a briefing on Hurricane Rita in New Orleans. Bush also meets with Nagin amid continuing tensions between the mayor and the federal government’s top official in the city.

– Less than 20 percent of New Orleans was under water, down from 80 percent after Katrina hit Aug. 29.

– Search crews reached more devastated neighborhoods, causing the death toll in Louisiana to jump by 90 to 736 as of Monday. The toll across the Gulf Coast was 973.


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