USA TODAY International Edition
Storms spin up near Texas, Bermuda
A trio of tropical threats has emerged in the Atlantic basin, and forecasters are keeping a close watch.
Newly named Tropical Storm Imelda threatens to swamp portions of southeastern Texas with more than a foot of rain this week, possibly leading to dangerous, life- threatening flash floods.
Although the storm officially made landfall Tuesday afternoon, enough rainfall is still forecast to cause significant street, highway and low- lying area flooding along the Gulf Coast of Texas, AccuWeather said. This includes the cities of Beaumont, Houston, Galveston, Matagorda, Victoria and Corpus Christi, Texas.
“Rainfall rates of 1 to 3 inches per hour and potentially saturated soils from the precipitation that falls today will continue the threat of flash flooding into Thursday,” the National Weather Service in Houston said Tuesday.
In addition to the likelihood of flooding, some of the thunderstorms can be robust with strong wind gusts, according to AccuWeather.
A couple of the strongest thunderstorms could produce a waterspout or tornado.
Tropical storm warnings have been hoisted in Bermuda as strengthening Category 2 Hurricane Humberto approaches the tiny island.
“Humberto is likely to track near Bermuda by later Wednesday, potentially bringing strong winds, battering surf and heavy rain,” the Weather Channel said.
As of 2 p. m. EDT, Humberto had 100 mph winds and was located about 490 miles west of Bermuda. It was moving to the east- northeast at 9 mph.
The hurricane will also continue to generate high surf and dangerous rip currents along the Southeast U. S. coast, the National Hurricane Center warned.
Meanwhile, Tropical Depression Ten formed Tuesday morning in the central Atlantic Ocean about halfway between Africa and South America, the hurricane center said. It was located 1,165 miles from the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean.
The system should become Tropical Storm Jerry in the next day or so and track north of the Caribbean islands as a hurricane by the weekend. The depression is still too far away for forecasters to determine whether it will have any impact on the United States.