Hurricane Humberto Slams Ashore in Texas

[Ghost in the Machine]

Hurricane Humberto Slams Ashore in Texas
Published: 9/13/07, 4:45 AM EDT
By MICHAEL GRACZYK

HOUSTON (AP) - Hurricane Humberto crashed ashore along Southeast Texas early Thursday, bringing heavy rains and maximum sustained winds of up to 80 mph as it made its way to eastern Louisiana, the National Weather Service said.

The Category 1 storm made landfall about five miles east of High Island, near Sea Rim State Park, where wind gusts measured 62 mph, meteorologist Jim Sweeney said. The storm was expected to start weakening as it continued inland.

"It's a very compact storm," Sweeney said. The strongest winds are very close to the center of circulation. The hurricane force winds only go about a 15 miles."

A hurricane warning was issued from east of High Island to Cameron, La. A tropical storm warning was in effect from east of Sargent to High Island, and from east of Cameron to Intracoastal City, La. The storm was initially expected to strike as a tropical storm until it energized into a Category One hurricane after midnight.

The storm's rain bands were spreading over the coast and between 5 and 10 inches of rain were expected, with some spots possibly getting as much as 15 inches. But authorities said evacuations were not necessary.

The area expected to be hit the hardest is in the far southeast corner of Texas from Galveston Island eastward. It includes the Beaumont and Port Arthur areas.

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[Mythsaje]

1. Thankfully it was a relatively minor storm

as such things go.

But this does seem to be shaping up to be quite the Hurricane season, doesn't it?

[Ghost in the Machine]

2. It's been a busy season for sure... still have the rest of this month to go

and October too, isn't it? Hurricane season closes Nov 1st, right? (I forget if it's Oct or Nov)

[Mythsaje]

3. I think it's Nov...n/t

[Pirate Smile]

4. It closes on the last day of November.

[babylonsister]

5. Weird. I live in Houston 45 minutes from Galveston and we didn't get a drop overnight

despite the dire warnings of the weathermen.
Whoever gets a visit from Humberto, stay safe!

[AuntPatsy]

7. Are you close to La Porte? Just a few weeks ago they were heavily flooded,

My daughter lives there and I haven't been able to get a hold of her, hopefully like you they did not see any rain.

[babylonsister]

8. LaPorte is closer to the gulf than I am by about 1/2 hour drive.

My DH woke up this a.m. and his computer was down; if her phone line is bundled, that could be a reason, or they could have gotten tons of rain. I just don't know. But we're high and dry here now, at least where I live. It does seem to have moved northeast, away from here, to terrorize others.

[AuntPatsy]

10. Thank you, I figured her phone lines might be down but I thought her cell would at least

be working, perhaps they were up late and are just sleeping heavily, I hope so, she was terrified last night when I talked to her simply because of the possibility of it flooding once again. They had three foot of water in their yard last month when they had that heavy rain, after living their over a year that was a first for them.

They had waves hitting their front door, must have been horrific, my grandchildren were a bit traumatized, I cannot imagine what the fear that people along the gulf coast states must experience each and every time it rains after having gone through the devastation that Katrina reaped on such a wide spread area.

I was just shocked to hear this am when we awoke that the storm had reached hurricane status after midnight without the heating of the day which I always thought was mandatory for further strengthening.

[babylonsister]

12. Waves hitting their front door? Are they right on the water?

Sounds like a dumb question, but it can get vicious here. As much as I'd love waterfront property, I'd be scared, too.
It has been really wet this year; I was dreading another 8-10 inches of rain myself; we had about a 1/4" if that yesterday a.m. and everything was squishy/soggy. Enough already!

Should this happen again, AuntPatsy, if a rough one is headed our way, please let your daughter know she can come over here if she gets too scared. We are a lot higher and drier than she is, plus we have a water resorvoir behind our house that sucks up a lot. We've lived here since 1994 and never flooded (knocks wood).

[Gman]

6. It went from a disturbance to a hurricane in 14 hours

incredible.

[Jacobin]

9. The eye is on us right now in Lake Charles

It has weakened a lot since landfall. Just gusty winds and rain. Still have power.

No work today. :-)

[malaise]

11. Enjoy the day off

and stay safe :D

[Justyce]

13. We're one of the few streets in our area with power (by Port Arthur)

It got pretty scary for a couple of hours there! Got off a lot easier this time than we did with Rita, thank goodness... The eye went right over us too -- from raging to instant dead calm, actually pretty cool. :hi: