Tropical Storm Edouard headed toward the US Gulf coast early on Tuesday and was expected to strengthen significantly – possibly reaching hurricane force – before bringing potentially heavy rains and flooding into parts of Texas and Louisiana.
The storm was upgraded on Monday night from a tropical depression, and forecasters with the National Hurricane Center (NHC) expect it will make landfall in Texas later on Tuesday.
Early on Tuesday, the storm was about ۴۰ miles (۶۴km) south-south-east of Cameron, Louisiana, and ۷۰ miles south-east of Port Arthur, Texas, with maximum sustained winds of ۴۰mph (۶۵km/h) while moving west-north-west at ۸mph.
Tropical storm warnings, hurricane watches, storm surge warnings and flood watches were issued for the western Gulf coast. The NHC said Edouard was expected to dump ۳ to ۶ inches (۸-۱۵cm) of rain along the Texas coast through east-central Texas, but some areas could see up to ۹in. South-western Louisiana was expected to see lesser amounts.
Flash flooding was likely in low-lying and urban areas, the hurricane center said.
Texas’s governor, Greg Abbott, said the biggest problem expected from the storm was flooding.
“This is our first big storm of the season, and I’ll tell you, Texas is prepared,” Orlando Alanis of the Texas division of emergency management said during a news conference.
Crews worked on Monday to clear dry vegetation that could ignite from a lightning strike and cause fast-spreading fires, Abbott said.
Meanwhile, the remnants of Tropical Storm Dolly brought rain and thunderstorms to parts of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, the Turks and Caicos, and the Bahamas, the NHC said.
In the Pacific Ocean on Monday evening, Tropical Storm Lowell was about ۶۳۰ miles south-east of Hilo, Hawaii, with maximum sustained winds of ۷۰mph while moving west at ۱۰mph. Forecasters said Lowell could rapidly intensify and become a major hurricane by Wednesday.
Also in the Pacific, Tropical Storm Marie formed early Tuesday well offshore of south-west Mexico and was not threatening land, the center said. The storm was about ۴۷۰ miles south-west of Manzanillo with maximum sustained winds of ۴۵mph and was moving north-west. Marie was expected to become a hurricane in the coming days.
Elsewhere in the Pacific, Karina became a hurricane on Sunday, fueled by warm waters far from any shore, and strengthened on Monday into a powerful category ۴ storm. But it did not threaten land, forecasters said.
On Tuesday morning, Hurricane Karina remained a category ۴ hurricane and was centered ۱,۲۱۰ miles west-south-west of the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula of Mexico with maximum sustained winds of ۱۴۰mph while moving west-north-west at ۱۰mph, the NHC said.
