NHC forecasts 3 to 6 inches of rain across greater Houston area
Tropical Storm Edouard tracked toward the Gulf Coast on Tuesday, bringing the threat of heavy rain and flash flooding to parts of Texas and Louisiana, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Early Tuesday, the storm was centered about 65 miles south-southeast of Cameron, Louisiana, and 90 miles southeast of Port Arthur, Texas, with maximum sustained winds of 40 mph and moving west-northwest at 8 mph, the NHC said. Forecasters expect Edouard to make landfall in Texas later Tuesday.
The system was upgraded Monday night from a tropical depression. The NHC anticipated 3 to 6 inches of rain in the greater Houston area, with parts of the state’s upper coast seeing up to 9 inches. Rainfall exceeding 4 inches per hour could cause flash flooding in low-lying and urban areas, the center said.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott said flooding was the biggest problem expected from the storm. “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 Monday to clear dry vegetation that could ignite from a lightning strike and cause fast-spreading fires, Abbott said.
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, Tropical Storm Lowell was about 630 miles southeast of Hilo, Hawaii, with maximum sustained winds of 70 mph while moving west at 10 mph. Forecasters said Lowell could rapidly intensify and become a major hurricane by Wednesday.
Also in the Pacific, Tropical Storm Marie formed early Tuesday about 470 miles southwest of Manzanillo with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph, moving northwest, and was expected to become a hurricane in coming days. Hurricane Karina, centered 1,210 miles west-southwest of the southern tip of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula, remained a Category 4 storm Tuesday morning with maximum sustained winds of 140 mph, moving west-northwest at 10 mph. Karina did not threaten land, forecasters said.