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Corpus Christi, Texas: Tropical Storm Erin and its torrential rainfall headed for flood-weary Texas early yesterday, while in the eastern Caribbean, officials issued hurricane warnings for approaching Tropical Storm Dean.
Erin was not expected to gain hurricane strength before making landfall in Texas later in the day. Governor Rick Perry ordered emergency vehicles and personnel, including National Guard troops, to the Harlingen and Corpus Christi areas.
"Because storms have saturated much of our state this summer, many communities in this storm's projected path are at high risk of dangerous flash flooding," Perry said in a statement.
Cameron County Judge Carlos Cascos, the top elected official for the state's southernmost county, urged residents to evacuate trailers and mobile homes on South Padre Island. In the Caribbean, local governments in St Lucia, Martinique, Guadeloupe and its dependencies, Saba and St Eustaties, issued a hurricane watch late on Wednesday for Tropical Storm Dean. A hurricane watch means hurricane conditions are possible in the next 36 hours.
In the Gulf, Erin formed late on Tuesday as the fifth depression of the Atlantic hurricane season and was upgraded to a tropical storm on Wednesday when its maximum sustained speed hit 64km/h. The threshold for tropical storm status is 63km/h.
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