Legion of Angels News Archive

(CNN) – Edouard weakened to a tropical depression Tuesday afternoon after moving inland from the Gulf of Mexico and bringing much-needed rain to Central Texas.

Edouard was a tropical storm when it made landfall in the McFaddin National Wildlife Refuge just west of the Louisiana-Texas border earlier Tuesday, but its movement and wind speed had slowed by early afternoon.

Flooding in and around Houston, Texas, on Tuesday morning closed eastbound lanes along a stretch of Interstate 10 near Hankamer and Wallaceville, “after 10 to 12 vehicles slipped off the road,” a Chambers County sheriff’s deputy said.

No injuries were reported.

At about 5 p.m. ET, Edouard was centered about 35 miles north-northeast of Houston with maximum sustained winds near 35 mph. It was moving west-northwest at 9 mph and was expected to maintain that pace for the next day or so until it dissipates, forecasters said.

“A continued west-northwest motion with some reduction in forward speed is expected over the next day or two … taking Edouard across Central Texas,” the National Hurricane Center said.

High winds downed trees and power lines in Beaumont and Port Arthur, both east of Houston. Four to 6 inches of rain were reported in that area.

“We have a lot of wind and rain right now,” Galveston, Texas, Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas said Tuesday morning. iReport.com: Galveston power lines spark in storm

“Of course, we always feel very fortunate when we don’t get a direct hit,” Thomas said. “Galveston is used to tropical storms. Fortunately, this did not become a hurricane.”

Galveston was nearly wiped out by a hurricane in 1900 that killed 8,000 people. It is the nation’s worst natural disaster.

Two years later, Galveston built a sea wall 17 feet above sea level.

“It’s done a good job since 1902,” Thomas said.

The storm was expected to dump up to 5 inches of rain in some southwestern Louisiana coastal parishes. Isolated amounts up to 10 inches could fall in some areas, the hurricane center said, and tornadoes were possible.

Flooding from the storm surge — which was expected to be 2 feet to 4 feet above normal tide levels in some of the warning areas — would gradually subside during the afternoon, 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

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A low pressure system about 1,400 miles east of the Lesser Antilles may develop into a tropical depression in the central Atlantic sometime Monday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said in a report.

The system was moving west-northwest at 10 to 15 miles per hour.

If it strengthens into a tropical storm, with winds of 39 to 73 mph, the NHC would name it Christobal.

Over the next five days, weather models forecast the system would cross the Lesser Antilles or strike near the Venezuela-Guyana border.

The Lesser Antilles include the Caribbean Islands from the Virgin Islands south to Trinidad and then west to Aruba.

Energy traders watch for storms that could enter the Gulf of Mexico and threaten U.S. oil and gas production facilities.

Commodities traders also watch storms that could hit agriculture crops like citrus and cotton in Florida and other states along the Gulf Coast.

Source — Yahoo!

HAMILTON, Bermuda (Reuters) - Hurricane Bertha weakened back into a less-menacing tropical storm on Sunday after stalling for a day near the British colony of Bermuda, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

The top sustained winds of what had been the first hurricane of the 2008 Atlantic storm season slipped to near 65 miles per hour (100 km per hour), below the 74 mph (119 kph) threshold at which tropical storms are classified as hurricanes, the Miami-based hurricane center said.

Little change in strength was expected over the next 24 hours and the storm had stalled again after inching its way northwest for a brief period early on Sunday.

“The center of Bertha is expected to slowly pass not far to the southeast and east of Bermuda during the next day or so,” the hurricane center said.

It said the storm’s motion could be erratic at times but that it could pass closer to Bermuda, a wealthy mid-Atlantic offshore finance center, than indicated earlier.

At one point a “major” Category 3 hurricane on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale of storm intensity, as Hurricane Katrina had been when it came ashore near New Orleans in 2005, Bertha weakened because of its lack of movement.

Its energy had churned up colder waters from beneath the sea surface, depriving it of the warm water that fuels tropical storms.

Bermuda, which is also a major tourist resort, has strict building codes and a tropical storm is unlikely to pose any significant threat to its 66,000 people.

Few of the shops in Hamilton’s retail heart of Front Street had storm shutters up on Sunday and some public beaches were still open despite high storm-related surf.

Many islanders said they were looking forward to the arrival of Bertha, as it would bring some much-needed rain after a long drought. As of Friday the island has had just 1.3 inches of rain in six weeks, 20 percent below normal.

Oil markets had kept a wary eye on Bertha after it formed because of the potential of hurricanes to cause havoc among the oil rigs of the Gulf of Mexico. But the Gulf has not been in Bertha’s track for many days.

By 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT), Bertha was around 190 miles (310 km) south-southeast of Bermuda.

Hurricane experts have forecast that the 2008 Atlantic storm season will be average or above average. The long-term average is for 10 tropical storms to form between June 1 and the end of November, of which six become hurricanes.

Bertha formed near the Cape Verde Islands off Africa and its development that far east so early in the season is viewed by some hurricane experts as ominous. Storm activity does not usually get into high gear in the Atlantic until August.

On one Bermudian beach, 28-year-old English accountant Helen Grimwood took a more sanguine view of Bertha, however.

“I am quite excited and interested to see what it will be like,” said Grimwood, who arrived in Bermuda just three days ago to start a new job.

“I am not worried about it,” she said.

Source — Yahoo!

HAMILTON (Reuters) - A tropical storm watch was issued for Bermuda on Friday as Hurricane Bertha, the first hurricane of the 2008 Atlantic storm season, neared the wealthy mid-Atlantic British colony, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

Conditions in the major offshore finance center were sunny and calm on Friday and few of Bermuda’s 66,000 residents appeared concerned about the storm.

While it remained unclear how close Bertha would eventually come to Bermuda, a tropical storm watch means that tropical storm conditions, including rough seas and storm-force winds, are possible within the next 36 hours.

“Large swells and high surf are affecting Bermuda … and these conditions are expected to persist for the next few days, the Miami-based hurricane center said.

At 5 p.m. EDT, top sustained winds from the hurricane were blowing at 90 miles per hour (150 km per hour), making it a minimal Category 1 storm on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale of hurricane intensity.

Bertha’s center was about 270 miles southeast of Bermuda, according to the hurricane center, which said it was moving north-northwest at a slow 5 mph (7 kph).

Forecasters expected the storm to turn more to the north and make its closest approach to Bermuda, home of some of the world’s biggest reinsurance companies and a major resort center, on Saturday or Sunday.

“The core of Bertha is expected to pass well east of Bermuda but any deviation to the left could bring stronger winds to the island and adjacent waters,” the forecast said.

Residents of the island, which has tough building codes to ensure structures weather storms, appeared largely relaxed.

“People are buying the usual staples — tarps, batteries,” said Bermuda Chamber of Commerce President Philip Barnett. “We are watching the track of the storm, and we hope it will stay well to the east of us,” he added.

To better gauge the intensity of the storm — which surprised forecasters when it strengthened briefly into a “major” Category 3 hurricane on Monday — an air force “hurricane hunter” airplane flew into Bertha to get a close look on Friday. Forecasters said afterward that no significant change of strength was expected.

Jahkima Kirkpatrick, sales manager for hardware store Masters Ltd, said most Bermudians seemed to have dismissed Bertha as a non-event.

“We have seen an increase in battery sales and flashlights in the past two or three days, but it’s nothing like the rush we have had in the past when other hurricanes have been bearing down on us,” Kirkpatrick said.

“Usually, when people feel it’s a real threat, they have their houses boarded up by now, but you just don’t see any of that happening this time around,” he said.

“The weather’s been great and it’s very early in the season for us to get hit — I think everyone is pretty skeptical that Bertha is going to have any impact at all.”

But there remained enough uncertainty to justify issuing a storm watch for Bermuda, the hurricane center said.

Source — Yahoo!