MIAMI — 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, La., and was expected to rapidly weaken as it moved inland. The National Hurricane Center said the storm arrived with maximum sustained winds of 60 m.p.h. (95 km/h) and had become slightly weaker as its centre moved over southeastern Texas on Tuesday evening. In the meantime, several storms were brewing in the Pacific Ocean, including Lowell, which reached hurricane strength earlier in the day. The hurricane centre said Edouard was expected to dump three to seven inches (eight to 17 centimetres) of rain with up to 12 inches (30 centimetres). 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 As the centre of the storm passed over Beaumont, Texas, about 80 miles (130 kilometres) northeast of Houston, the city’s offices were shuttered and the Texas Office of Emergency Management warned residents to stay off the road. More than 47,000 utility customers were without electricity in Jefferson County, which includes Beaumont, according to poweroutage.com. Mike Gilbert decided ahead of the storm to close his surf shop on Texas’ Crystal Beach because he didn’t want to risk his employees having a difficult time getting home. But, he said, it had ended up just being gray skies and drizzly rain there Tuesday as Edouard made landfall about 60 miles (96 kilometres) northeast of his shop. “You literally never know,” Gilbert said. “It could have all of a sudden moved over 50 miles and picked up 20 m.p.h. in wind and it could have been a whole different story.” In Cameron, La., the winds had picked up by Tuesday morning and rain was coming through on and off, said Connor Salvador, who owns an RV park there near the coast. 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, the centre said. Forecasters said it was expected to become a hurricane by Wednesday night, and swells generated by the storm were expected to affect parts of the coast in southwestern Mexico and the Baja California peninsula over the next few days. Elsewhere in the Pacific, Karina became a hurricane Sunday, fuelled 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 centre said. ___ Jamie Stengle and Lekan Oyekanmi, The Associated Press Stengle reported from Dallas. Associated Press journalist Julie Walker contributed to this report from New York.
