The confirmed death toll as of 19:00 pm CDT on [[September 24]] (18000200 UTC) on [[September 2325]]) stands at 28. One was caused by a hurricane-related tornado in the outer bands, the rest were indirect deaths that were caused by accidents in the evacuation. [http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050922/ap_on_re_us/rita;_ylt=Au1rtNlWxs7m1F0I9e2eanvqbr8F;_ylu=X3oDMTA3b2NibDltBHNlYwM3MTY-][http://www.katc.com/Global/story.asp?S=3889493] As of [[September 24]], David Paulison, Acting Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency reported that there had been no deaths caused by Hurricane Rita's strike itself. [http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050924/ts_nm/rita_fema_dc]
Direct deaths indicate those caused by the direct effects of the [[winds]], [[flood]]ing, [[tornadoes]], [[storm surge]] or [[ocean]]ic effects of Rita. Indirect deaths indicate those caused by hurricane-related accidents (including [[automobile|car]] accidents, [[fire]]s or other incidents), as well as clean-up and evacuation incidents and health issues (i.e. [[poisoning]], [[illness]]es waiting for help).
