Tropical Storm Edouard hits Louisiana coast | Today’s news

(Bloomberg) — Tropical Storm Edouard made landfall Tuesday afternoon along a remote stretch of the Louisiana coast on a track that will take it near key waterways for transporting chemicals, natural gas and oil from the Persian Gulf.

Despite traveling through the warm waters of the Persian Gulf, Edouard failed to reach hurricane strength during its final approach to land around 3:20 p.m. New York time. The storm’s sustained winds were around 60 miles (97 kilometers) per hour, with forecasters predicting “rapid weakening” as Edouard moves further inland.

Earlier hurricane warnings were replaced by a series of tropical storm warnings broadcast from Port Bolivar, Texas, west of Galveston Island, to the Vermilion-Iberia parish line in Louisiana, roughly 150 miles away.

The warning area still includes the Sabine Pass waterway leading to Port Arthur, home to a large LNG export terminal.

Flood watches will remain in effect for the Houston area through Wednesday evening as Edouard tracks over Texas. The heaviest rain is expected along and east of Interstate 45, with the potential for rainfall totals in some areas around 15 inches.

Tropical storm-force winds extend about 25 miles from Edouard’s compact center.

At Cheniere Energy Inc.’s Sabine Pass export plant Tuesday morning, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. three LNG vessels docked in Louisiana. Four other vessels were shown waiting at sea.

Edouard approaches the area near landfall of Hurricane Ike in 2008. This storm, which became the tenth costliest tropical system to hit the US, was significantly stronger and larger than Edouard.

Even a weaker system could disrupt shipping in the Houston-to-Cameron energy production and processing corridor, but impacts have so far been muted. The storm surge from Edouard is expected to crest up to 3 feet (0.9 meters) above ground level along parts of the coast, down slightly from earlier forecasts.

Edouard is still expected to drop up to 6 inches of rain on large areas of Texas, including flood-prone Houston, the center said. Some isolated areas can be up to 9 inches.

“This rainfall is likely to cause flash flooding, particularly in low-lying and urban areas,” the hurricane center said.

–With help from Cedric Sam and Chloe Whiteaker.

(An earlier version corrected the spelling of Edouard in the seventh paragraph.)

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