MIAMI — Tropical Storm Edouard headed toward the Gulf Coast early Tuesday and expected to gain strength before bringing potentially heavy rains and flooding into parts of Texas and Louisiana. The storm was upgraded Monday night from a tropical depression and forecasters with the National Hurricane Center expect it will make landfall in Texas later on Tuesday. Early Tuesday the storm was about 65 miles (100 kilometres) south-southeast of Cameron, Louisiana, and 90 miles (145 kilometres) southeast of Port Arthur, Texas, with maximum sustained winds of 40 mph (65 km/h) while moving west-northwest at 8 mph (13 km/h). Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said the biggest problem expected from the storm is flooding. Forecasters are anticipating 3-6 inches (7-15 centimetres) of rain in the greater Houston area, with some areas of the state’s upper coast getting up to 9 inches (22 centimetres). More than 4 inches (10 centimetres) per hour could fall and will likely cause flash flooding in low-lying and urban areas, according to the National Hurricane Center. “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. 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. In the Pacific Ocean on Monday evening, Tropical Storm Lowell was about 630 miles (1,015 kilometres) southeast of Hilo, Hawaii, with maximum sustained winds of 70 mph (110 km/h) while moving west at 10 mph (17 km/h). Forecasters said Lowell could rapidly intensify and become a major hurricane by Wednesday. Also in the Pacific, Tropical Storm Marie formed early Tuesday well offshore of southwest Mexico and wasn’t threatening land, the centre said. The storm was about 470 miles (756 kilometres) southwest of Manzanillo with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph (72 km/h) and was moving northwest. Marie was expected to become a hurricane in the coming days. Elsewhere in the Pacific, Hurricane Karina became a hurricane Sunday, fueled by warm waters far from any shore, and strengthened Monday into a powerful Category 4 storm. But it did not threaten land, forecasters said. On Tuesday morning, Karina remained a Category 4 hurricane and was centred 1,210 miles (1,950 kilometres) west-southwest of the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula of Mexico with maximum sustained winds of 140 mph (222 km/h) while moving west-northwest at 10 mph (17 km/h), the centre said. ___ The Associated Press
