Tropical Storm Rita raced toward the Florida Keys and the Gulf of Mexico with forecasters expecting it to strengthen into a hurricane on Tuesday, three weeks after Hurricane Katrina swamped New Orleans and hammered the U.S. Gulf Coast. All 80,000 residents were ordered out of the Keys on Monday and Miami-Dade Mayor Carols Alavrez cautioned southern Florida not to dismiss the power of the coming storm. "Tropical Storm Rita is a serious threat. Do not underestimate this storm," he said. "Stay home. No matter what, we're going to have lousy weather." Schools, many government offices and some businesses were closed on Tuesday, Reuters reported.
