Legion of Angels News Archive

(GALVESTON, Texas) — Tropical Storm Edouard hit the Texas Gulf coast east of Galveston on Tuesday with strong winds and rain but was expected to weaken as it makes its way inland during the day.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami said the storm made landfall over a stretch of coast east of Galveston and west of the Louisiana border, between High Island and Sabine Pass.

Maximum sustained winds were 65 mph, short of hurricane strength that starts at 74 mph.

It is the height of tourist season in Galveston, but tourism officials said many vacationers were planning to stay in hopes that the area isn’t hit as hard as South Padre Island was by Hurricane Dolly on July 23.

Beth Bronson, visiting from Allen, said Monday she’s determined not to have her trip ruined.

“We spend money to come here with our families. It’s an inexpensive place to stay,” said Bronson, 49. “If they were to say evacuate, then yeah we would do it. But otherwise no.”

Still, officials in Texas and Louisiana were busy Monday preparing just in case Edouard intensified. It could reach near-hurricane strength as it churns in the warm Gulf of Mexico waters before making landfall.

A tropical storm warning was in effect from Grand Isle, La., westward to Sargent in Texas. A hurricane watch was in effect from west of Intracoastal City, La. to Sargent. The tropical storm warning and hurricane watch were discontinued for areas south of Sargent early Tuesday.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry issued a disaster declaration for 17 Texas counties that could be in Edouard’s path. The state activated a number of emergency teams, including calling up 1,200 Texas National Guard troops and six UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters.

In Louisiana, Gov. Bobby Jindal declared a statewide emergency. Cameron Parish told up to 3,000 residents to evacuate low-lying coastal areas prone to flooding. Vermilion Parish, also in western Louisiana, advised people in mobile homes or FEMA trailers along the coast to leave.

About 50 miles northwest of Galveston, Houston officials asked residents to safely store large, heavy items outside their homes to prevent flying debris.

Edouard was not forecast to bring the 100-mph winds to Galveston that punished another tourist hotspot in Texas, South Padre Island, when Hurricane Dolly tore off roofs and knocked down signs last month.

Since Dolly, South Padre has regained electric power but its four biggest full-service hotels remain closed as well as the convention center in the community about 260 miles down the coast from Galveston.

The Texas coast counts on tourism this time of year. About 50 million visitors to the Texas coast spent about $15 billion in 2006.

Edouard also forced oil and gas companies in the Gulf to evacuate workers from 23 production platforms and six rigs, according to the U.S. Minerals Management Service. The service said there are 717 manned platforms and 125 operating rigs in the Gulf.

Marathon Oil Corp. temporarily shut down a refinery that processes about 76,000 barrels of crude per day in Texas City, about 10 miles north of Galveston.

The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port temporarily suspended the offloading of tankers in the Gulf but said customers weren’t affected because of pipeline deliveries.

Source — TIME

(CNN) – The Texas and Louisiana Gulf coasts hunkered down early Tuesday as Tropical Storm Edouard gained strength with landfall only hours away.

Winds from the storm’s outer bands were lashing parts of the shoreline before dawn Tuesday and some additional strengthening was expected.

At 5 a.m. ET Tuesday, the center of the tropical storm — the fifth one this season — was about 50 miles (80 km) southeast of Port Arthur, Texas and about 85 miles (135 km) east of Galveston, Texas, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.

Edouard was moving west at nearly 12 mph (19 km/hr), while its maximum sustained winds were near 65 mph (100 km/hr), with higher gusts, the center said. Tropical storm force winds extended up to 70 miles (110 km) from the center.

The hurricane center said the storm was moving west-northwest in the Gulf of Mexico and probably will be near hurricane strength when its center reaches the coast near the Texas-Louisiana state line before midday.

A tropical storm warning was in effect from the mouth of the Mississippi River west to Port O’Connor, Texas. The warning means that tropical storm conditions are expected in the warning area within 24 hours.

A hurricane watch, which means hurricane conditions are possible within 36 hours, was in effect from west of Intracoastal City, Louisiana, to Port O’Connor.

The U.S. Census Bureau on Monday said more than 5.4 million people could be affected by the storm, which started as a depression in the Gulf of Mexico early Sunday afternoon.

Edouard is expected to dump up to 5 inches of rain along the Louisiana coast, and “maximum amounts of 10 inches are possible over southeastern Texas,” the hurricane center advisory said.

As the storm approached, Galveston Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas said the city has activated its emergency management center.

The Gulf Coast city’s Web site warned residents to create an evacuation plan in case they have to flee the storm.

Thomas said Galveston’s city hall will be closed Tuesday for the storm, but emergency workers would be working and ready.

Authorities in Houston, about 50 miles north of Galveston, also said they were prepared for the storm.

“Everything is in place,” said Ed Emmett, director of the office of Homeland Security in the county that encompasses Houston.

Emmett said 200 buses, 19 ambulances, numerous shelters and helicopters were ready in case there is need for the evacuation of homes or hospitals.

Source — CNN

(CNN) – Tropical Storm Edouard is not expected to make landfall in Texas until Tuesday morning, but forecasters warned the storm could spawn tornadoes as soon as Monday evening.

Forecasters expanded warnings early Monday along the Gulf Coast in Texas as Edouard picked up speed.

A tropical storm warning was in effect from the mouth of the Mississippi River, just south of New Orleans, Louisiana, to Port O’Connor, Texas.

A warning means that tropical storm conditions are expected within the warning area within 24 hours.

A hurricane watch, which means hurricane conditions are possible within 36 hours, was in effect from west of Intracoastal City, Louisiana, to Port O’Connor.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida, said in its 2 p.m. ET advisory, “Isolated tornadoes are possible over portions of southern Louisiana and the upper Texas coast later today and tonight.”

Despite the threat of inclement weather, Edouard seemed to be causing few problems in the Gulf of Mexico, where employees on thousands of oil rigs and platforms produce and search for oil.

The price of oil dropped $3.69 Monday to settle at $121.41 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

“That’s going to be a nonevent,” said Tom Orr, head of research for Weeden & Co. “It’s moving away from oil-producing facilities.”

Some companies reported minor disruptions and small-scale evacuations, but others said Edouard posed no threat to their workers, some of whom are more than 100 miles (160 kilometers) offshore.

ConocoPhillips said Edouard is not disrupting its exploration or production activities. Shell Oil reported that it had evacuated about 40 personnel from its operations in the western Gulf, but the company didn’t expect any impact to its production activities.

Rowan Cos., a drilling outfit with nine rigs in the Gulf, left most of its workers in place, except on its rig about 30 miles off the coast of Galveston, Texas. Employees also were preparing for flooding at a company shipyard in the Sabine Pass, on the Texas-Louisiana border.

Rowan spokesman Bill Provine said Monday morning that one of its rigs was in Edouard’s eye and employees were reporting winds of about 35 mph.

“They’re probably shooting pool or probably eating,” Provine said of the rig workers. “It’s not a big deal.”

Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. also expects to evacuate a rig outside Galveston, said Senior Vice President Gary Krenek.

Richard LeBlanc, spokesman for ENSCO International Inc., said the storm formed too quickly to evacuate workers but said oil rigs in the Gulf were designed to withstand tropical storms.

“We’ve certainly ridden out much tougher storms than this,” he said.

Edouard’s center could be “very near the upper Texas coast or the coast of southwestern Louisiana by Tuesday morning,” according to the hurricane advisory.

“Edouard could be nearing hurricane strength before reaching the coastline,” it said.

The storm started as a depression Sunday in the Gulf of Mexico.

At 2 p.m. ET, the center of the tropical storm — the fifth one this season — was about 145 miles south-southeast of Lafayette, Louisiana, and about 240 miles east-southeast of Galveston, the hurricane center said.

The storm was moving west-northwest at nearly 8 mph. Its maximum sustained winds were near 45 mph, with higher gusts, the hurricane center said.

Tropical storm-force winds extend up to 45 miles from the center.

Edouard is expected to dump up to 5 inches of rain along the Louisiana coast, and “maximum amounts of 10 inches are possible over southeastern Texas,” the hurricane center said.

Source — CNN

(NEW ORLEANS) — Emergency teams were activated as residents along the Gulf of Mexico prepared to get hit with another round of tropical weather for the second time in less than a month.

Tropical Storm Edouard gained speed as it moved west Monday and was expected to strengthen to a near-hurricane before making landfall somewhere in Texas or southwest Louisiana.

A tropical storm warning was in effect from the mouth of the Mississippi River westward to Cameron, La. A hurricane watch was in effect from west of Intracoastal City, La. to Port O’Connor, Texas.

Edouard had maximum sustained winds near 50 mph with higher gusts at 2 a.m. EDT Monday. The storm’s center was located about 75 miles south-southwest of the mouth of Mississippi River and 325 miles east-southeast of Galveston, Texas.

It was moving west at 9 mph and was expected to strengthen before making landfall Tuesday morning. Forecasters said the warm waters of the Gulf provided the right conditions for the storm to intensify and approach hurricane strength with winds of 75 mph or more.

Southeastern Texans prepared for Edouard’s impact while the victims farther down the Texas coast continued cleaning up the damage from Hurricane Dolly, which hit last month.

Krista Piferrer, a spokeswoman for Texas Gov. Rick Perry, said Sunday that state emergency management officials were getting updates through conference calls with the National Weather Service.

Texas began activating a number of emergency teams Sunday afternoon, including calling up 1,200 Texas military forces and six UH-60 helicopters, the State Operations Center said. The Texas Forest Service and the Texas Engineering and Extension Service activated response teams.

State emergency management officials were also conducting conference calls with officials from communities along the Texas coast, from Port O’Connor to Port Arthur, that could be affected by Edouard.

Rainfall of 2 to 4 inches was expected in coastal Louisiana. About 3 to 5 inches was possible in southeast Texas, with isolated amounts up to 8 inches. Tides of 2 to 4 feet above normal levels were expected in parts of the warning area.

In Louisiana’s Terrebonne Parish, emergency director Jerry Richard said he had called in staff members to determine if the parish’s low-lying areas could be affected by flooding.

They planned to monitor the storm through Sunday night. State emergency officials did not immediately return calls seeking details on emergency plans.

Many of the Gulf’s offshore oil and natural gas drilling platforms sit in the storm’s path.

Shell Oil Co. had not made any operational changes Sunday afternoon, but company officials were watching the storm closely, spokesman Shawn Wiggins said.

ExxonMobil Corp. had not evacuated any workers or cut production by Sunday evening, but the company was preparing its platforms for heavy wind and rain and considering whether to evacuate some workers, spokeswoman Margaret Ross said in an e-mail statement.

Source — TIME