NEW ORLEANS (AP) - The Latest on tropical weather (all times local):
10 p.m.
The National Weather Service has extended the tropical storm warning on the Gulf Coast eastward to the Alabama-Florida border.
Forecasters Tuesday night increased the warning ahead of Tropical Storm Cindy to include Lake Pontchartrain and the New Orleans metro area.
The storm was about 230 miles (370 kilometers) south of Morgan City, Louisiana, with maximum sustained winds of 60 mph (97 kph). It was moving northwest at 7 mph (11 kph) and forecast to continue along that track before turning to the north Wednesday night.
Not much change in strength is expected Wednesday, with slight weakening beginning Thursday.
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8:45 p.m.
The National Weather Service says Tropical Storm Cindy is centered about 350 miles (563.24 kilometers) southeast of Galveston, Texas. Maximum sustained winds were clocked Tuesday evening at 45 mph (75 kph) and the storm has been nearly stationary in recent hours. A tropical storm warning has been issued for the Gulf Coast from San Luis Pass, at the western end of Galveston Island, to the mouth of the Pearl River, where the Louisiana-Mississippi border meets the Gulf of Mexico.
Forecasts say the storm could produce overall rainfall of 6-9 inches (15-23 cms) with isolated amounts of up to 12 inches (30 cms) in spots in southeastern Louisiana and southern parts of Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle through Thursday.
A tropical storm warning was expanded to a wider area Tuesday afternoon, now extending from San Luis Pass, Texas, to the mouth of the Pearl River on the Mississippi-Louisiana line.
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8:30 p.m.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has ordered the State Operations Center to raise its readiness level as Tropical Storm Cindy approached the Gulf Coast.
The center’s readiness would be raised from level four/normal conditions to level three/increased readiness as of noon Wednesday. Also, Abbott has activated four Texas Task Force 1 boat squads and two Texas Military Department vehicles squads of five vehicles each to respond to any weather-related emergencies.
Abbott also put on standby the Emergency Medical Task Force of the Department of State health Services, as well as Texas Military Forces aircraft and shelter and feeding teams.
A voluntary evacuation notice has been issued for those with medical and other special needs on the Bolivar Peninsula, between Galveston and High Island, Texas. The National Weather Service advises that services may be limited for those on the peninsula around high tide from Wednesday afternoon through Thursday morning.
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4:30 p.m.
Tropical Storm Cindy is meandering over the central Gulf of Mexico, and forecasters warn that it’s dumping heavy rains that could trigger life-threatening flash floods.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Cindy was located at 4 p.m. CDT Tuesday about 280 miles (450 kilometers) south of Morgan City, Louisiana - or about 360 miles (575 kilometers) southeast of Galveston, Texas. Maximum sustained winds were clocked at 45 mph (75 kph) and the storm has been nearly stationary in recent hours.
Forecasts say the storm could produce overall rainfall of 6-9 inches (15-23 cms) with isolated amounts of up to 12 inches (30 cms) in spots in southeastern Louisiana and southern parts of Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle through Thursday.
A tropical storm warning was expanded to a wider area Tuesday afternoon, now extending from San Luis Pass, Texas to the mouth of the Pearl River on the Mississippi-Louisiana line.
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3 p.m.
Louisiana’s emergency preparedness office says it is coordinating with local officials and readying resources in advance of Tropical Storm Cindy’s threat of heavy rain and flash flooding.
Gov. John Bel Edwards says the advance notice of the storm gives officials time to put emergency plans in place.
Louisiana was slammed with major flooding last summer from an unnamed storm that heavily damaged the Baton Rouge and Lafayette regions.
Cindy formed Tuesday from a system that had been developing in the Gulf.
The Louisiana National Guard has moved high water vehicles and helicopters into areas that could flood. The state says FEMA is moving 125,000 meals and 200,000 liters of water into Louisiana.
Edwards is encouraging Louisiana residents to monitor local media and check www.GetAGamePlan.org to ready for the storm.
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1:30 p.m.
Some Gulf Coast residents are bracing for heavy rain and possible flooding from Tropical Storm Cindy.
Larry Godfrey, who owns the Escatawpa (Ess-kuh-TAW’-puh) Hollow Campground in Alabama, near the state line with Mississippi, says the Escatawpa River is already high from rainfall, and he expects his campground will flood.
National Weather Service forecasters are warning of the possibility of more than 10 inches of rain for an area between Biloxi, Mississippi and Mobile, Alabama, by Friday morning.
City and county governments on Mississippi’s coast are handing out sandbags. Jackson County Emergency Management Coordinator Donald Langham says rainfall-induced flooding appears to be the main danger from Cindy.
Godfrey and his wife live in a house on stilts, but he says water could get under his house. He says he will shut off power to campsites and tie up picnic tables.
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12:35 p.m.
Tropical Storm Cindy has formed in the Gulf of Mexico and is threatening to spread heavy rain across a wide area of the central Gulf coast.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami says the storm is centered about 265 miles (430 kilometers) south of Morgan City, Louisiana - or about 355 miles (565 kilometers) southeast of Galveston, Texas. Cindy has top sustained winds of 45 mph (75 kph) and the storm is presently stationary in the Gulf. It says Cindy acquired a well-defined center on Tuesday afternoon, becoming the third tropical storm of 2017.
The center say Cindy is expected to reach the Louisiana coast sometime late Wednesday and then move inland over western Louisiana and eastern Texas on Thursday. Forecasters say rain totaling 6 to 9 inches in areas and up to 12 inches in some spots pose a threat to southern portions of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle through Thursday.
Forecasters say a tropical storm warning is in effect from High Island on the upper Texas coast all the way to the mouth of the Pearl River at the state line of Louisiana and Mississippi. A tropical storm watch is in effect elsewhere on the Texas coast from west of High Island to San Luis Pass.
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10:15 a.m.
Coastal residents are feeling the effects of a severe storm system that’s churning in the Gulf of Mexico.
Police say flooding already is being reported on Dauphin Island south of Mobile, Alabama. The main road leading to the island’s narrow western end is partially covered with water, and the city is moving vehicles and equipment to higher ground.
Red flags are flying on the main public beach in Gulf Shores, Alabama, as a warning for people to stay out of the water. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey issued a state of emergency Tuesday morning because of the flooding threat.
Bands of heavy rain are coming through as far east as the Florida Panhandle.
Coastal Louisiana and Texas are under a tropical storm warning, and forecasters say the Alabama and Mississippi coasts could get as much as 15 inches (38 centimeters) of rain by Thursday night.
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10 a.m.
Forecasters say a tropical storm warning has now been extended further westward for a disturbance in the central Gulf and it now covers an area from High Island, Texas, to the mouth of the Pearl River between Louisiana and Mississippi.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami also says the biggest threat from the disturbance is the likely heavy rainfall over wide areas of the northern rim of the Gulf of Mexico.
At 11 a.m. EDT, the center said disturbance No. 3 was centered about 265 miles (430 kilometer) south of Morgan City, Louisiana - or about 355 miles (565 kilometers southeast of Galveston, Texas. It’s maximum sustained winds are at 40 mph (65 kph) and the storm is moving toward the northwest at 10 mph (17 kph).
The tropical storm warning means tropical storm conditions are expected somewhere in the warning area in the next 24 to 36 hours.
A tropical storm watch is also in effect on the upper Texas coast from west of High Island to San Luis Pass.
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8:25 a.m.
Forecasters say the Alabama and Mississippi coasts could be inundated with as much as 15 inches (38 centimeters)of rain from a tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico.
The heaviest rains are expected in an area that includes the port city of Mobile, Alabama, and the cities of Pascagoula and Biloxi in Mississippi. The forecast shows an even wider area from southeastern Louisiana into the western Florida Panhandle could receive as much as 10 inches (25 centimeters)of rain over three days.
The National Weather Service issued an expanded flash flood watch for the area Tuesday, and forecasters say the flooding threat will continue through Thursday night.
Coastal Louisiana is under a tropical storm warning. The National Hurricane Center says the storm is expected to move inshore early Thursday near the Louisiana-Texas line before weakening and moving northeastward in a sweeping arc.
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4:26 a.m.
A tropical storm warning has been issued for a section of Louisiana’s coast as a weather system approaches from the Gulf of Mexico.
The warning is in effect from Cameron, Louisiana, to Intracoastal City.
The system’s maximum sustained winds early Tuesday are near 40 mph (64 kph). The U.S. National Hurricane Center says some slight strengthening is possible before the system reaches the coast, either late Wednesday or Wednesday night.
As of 5 a.m. Tuesday, the system is centered about 305 miles (490 kilometers) south-southwest of the mouth of the Mississippi River and is moving northwest near 8 mph (13 kph).
Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Bret is moving along South America’s northern coast. Its maximum sustained winds are near 40 mph (64 kph) with weakening expected to begin later in the day.
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