By JAMIE STENGLE and LEKAN OYEKANMI Associated Press
PORT ARTHUR, Texas (AP) — Tropical Storm Edouard made landfall Tuesday afternoon along the Texas-Louisiana border after picking up a late burst of strength in the Gulf of Mexico, bringing ashore heavy rains and setting off flood warnings along the coast.
The storm made landfall in the small coastal community of Johnson Bayou, Louisiana, and was expected to rapidly weaken. The storm had maximum sustained winds of 60 mph (95 kph). In the meantime, several storms were brewing in the Pacific Ocean, including Lowell, which reached hurricane strength Tuesday morning.
The hurricane center said Edouard was expected to dump 3 to 6 inches (8 to 15 centimeters) of rain along the Texas coast through east-central Texas, but some areas could see up to 9 inches (23 centimeters). Southwestern Louisiana was expected to see lesser amounts.
“That rainfall could produce some flash flooding and river flooding,” said Brad Reinhart, a senior hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Center.
Storm makes landfall along Texas-Louisiana border
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said the biggest problem expected from the storm is 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 Monday to clear dry vegetation that could ignite from a lightning strike and cause fast-spreading fires, Abbott said.
In Cameron, Louisiana, the winds had picked up and rain was coming through on and off Tuesday morning, said Connor Salvador, who owns an RV park there near the coast. “Nothing too crazy yet,” he said.
He said while there could be a “little bit” of flooding if they get a lot of rain, he wasn’t too worried about Edouard.
“We’re pretty used to all these types of storms that come through,” he said.
Several storms in the Pacific Ocean
Forecasters said newly formed Hurricane Lowell in the Pacific Ocean was expected to remain several hundred miles away from Hawaii for the next several days at least, but swells from the hurricane were likely to impact parts of the islands beginning Wednesday.
“This hurricane is likely to increase the surf and make for dangerous beach conditions and marine conditions for any boaters near the Hawaiian islands over the next few days,” said Andrew Hagan, a forecaster with the National Hurricane Center.
Tropical Storm Marie formed in the Pacific Ocean early Tuesday well offshore of southwest Mexico and wasn’t threatening land, the center said. Forecasters said the storm about 400 miles (640 kilometers) southwest of Manzanillo was gradually strengthening and was expected to become a hurricane by Wednesday night.
Elsewhere in the Pacific, Karina became a hurricane Sunday, fueled by warm waters far from any shore. It strengthened Monday into a powerful Category 4 storm but forecasters said Tuesday that it was expected to weaken.
Meanwhile, the remnants of Tropical Storm Dolly brought rain and thunderstorms to parts of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, the Turks & Caicos, and the Bahamas, the hurricane center said.
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The story has been updated to correct that Dolly was a tropical storm, not a hurricane. ___
Stengle reported from Dallas. Associated Press journalist Julie Walker contributed to this report from New York.