Amid a particularly busy Atlantic hurricane season, another weather system is approaching the shores of Louisiana and Texas. Tropical Storm Beta brings threat of heavy rains and possible flash floods to several areas which are still recovering from Hurricane Laura.
According to Fox News, Beta is expected to make landfall along the upper or central Gulf Coast on Texas on Monday night. It is also expected to bring at least 20 inches if rain in several areas within the states in the following days.
Based on information from the National Hurricane Center, the weather system currently runs with maximum sustained winds of 50mph.
Due to its slow-moving approach, Beta is expected to bring sustained rain from the central coast of Texas to the southeast of Louisiana. The tropical storm is also reported to bring strong winds which will start to spread to the west all over Texas from Monday until Tuesday.
The NCH has also warned of possible flooding and flash floods in the area.
Tropical Storm Warnings
According to US News, several parts of Texas are already under a tropical storm watch, with warnings of possible storm surges. Storm conditions brought by Beta are said to possibly stretch outward to up to 175 miles from the eye of the storm.
In view of this, Governor Greg Abbott of Texas has already issued disaster declarations across 29 counties in the state which are in the path of the storm. Some of the said counties have already sustained damage from the strong winds and storm surges.
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New Orleans's National Weather Services has advised that the coastal floodings may persist in the areas affected by the tropical storm until Thursday.
Rains brought by Beta have already been experienced on the coasts of Texas on Sunday, but the heaviest downpour is not expected to arrive until late on Monday night or early on Tuesday.
Moreover, there have also been voluntary evacuations all over Galveston County due to the flooding which has also already forced the closure of several roads. The county, which is known to be low-lying is not expecting to issue mandatory evacuations but has advised residents to prepare supplies in case of severe flooding which will force them to stay at home in the next few days.
In a report by CBS News, it was stated that waves as high as 10 feet may hit towards Galveston due to Tropical Storm Beta.
If the tropical storm does indeed landfall in Texas, it is the ninth to make landfall in 2020 on the continental United States, a record which would tie the one set more than 100 years ago in 1916.
The threat of Beta comes as several areas in the coast of Florida Panhandle and Alabama are still struggling to recover from the effects of Hurricane Sally. Sally has caused at least two deaths during it hit.
Tropical Storm Bate is already named using the Greek alphabet since forecasters have already used up the traditional storm names for the year. This phenomenon has happened only twice, the first one in the 1950s.
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