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Rescue workers in southern Texas began preparing Wednesday for newly formed Tropical Storm Erin moving through the Gulf Coast.The National Hurricane Center predicts Erin, the fifth depression of the Atlantic hurricane season, to make landfall Thursday morning.
• Click here to track Tropical Storm Erin.
At 2 p.m. EDT, the storm was centered 210 miles east of Brownsville and about 260 miles east-southeast of Corpus Christi, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. Its top wind speed remained at 40 mph.Texans in the storm's path face the danger of flash flooding, but officials don't expect to order evacuations."We'll have some rain effects but not anything major," said Texas Emergency Management Coordinator John Stanford.The storm is expected to bring heavy rainfall along the southern coast of Texas and the northeastern coast of Mexico, according to the National Weather Service.Erin was moving toward the west-northwest at around 12 mph and was expected to continue following that track for at least 24 hours. If it doesn't change course, it could be centered near the lower or middle Texas coast on Thursday, the center said.Erin was likely too close to land to gain enough wind speed to become a hurricane, with sustained wind of at least 74 mph, said National Weather Service forecaster Tony Abbott in Brownsville.Gov. Rick Perry directed search and rescue teams, including National Guard troops, to prepare for the approaching system heading towards the Texas coast.“I urge all Texans to heed the warnings of their local leaders and take all possible precautions to stay out of dangerous situations as this severe weather continues,” Perry said in a statement.A tropical storm warning was posted for the Texas coast from Freeport, south of Houston, southward to the border.Mexico issued a tropical storm watch for its northwest coast from Rio San Fernando northward.A tropical storm watch means that tropical storm conditions are possible within 36 hours.
Out in the Atlantic, Tropical Storm Dean got a little stronger.
• Click here to track Tropical Storm Dean.
At 11 a.m. EDT, the storm was centered about 1,045 miles east of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean. Its top sustained wind speed had reached 60 mph, up from 40 mph on Tuesday. Some strengthening was expected within the next day, and forecasters said it could become a hurricane by Friday. Hurricanes have sustained wind of at least 74 mph.Dean was moving west at about 20 mph, but meteorologists said it was too early to tell where the storm will go.
Hurricane specialists expect this year's Atlantic hurricane season to be busier than average. Last week, they said as many as 16 tropical storms are likely, with nine strengthening into hurricanes.The season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30, but August typically is the start of the most active period. Ten tropical storms developed in the Atlantic last year, but only two made landfall in the US.In the Pacific, meanwhile, Flossie was downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm after sideswiping Hawaii's Big Island with rain and heavy surf.Flossie lost its hurricane status as its maximum sustained wind dropped below 74 mph. By 11 a.m. EST, the storm's top sustained wind was down to 50 mph and it was expected to continue weakening.The storm was about 270 miles south of Honolulu, moving west at about 15 mph, and forecasters canceled a tropical storm warning for the Big Island.Flossie was the first hurricane to come so close to the islands since Iniki in 1992, which caused $2.5 billion in damage on Kauai and killed six people.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,293309,00.html
As in the days of Noah...
