# 5805
Although the area of disturbed weather in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico ranks still as a tropical depression, forecasters believe it may strengthen to a tropical storm later today as it plods slowly and erratically north towards the coast.
Overnight Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal declared a state of emergency and the National Hurricane Center issued tropical storm warnings from Sabine Pass, Texas eastward to Pascagoula, Mississippi.
These tropical storm warnings include the city of New Orleans, Lake Pontchartrain, and Lake Maurepas.
Although strong T.S. force winds are possible along the coast, the big threat right now appears to be inland flooding from the expected heavy rains that will be produced by this slow moving system.
The NHC warns:
RAINFALL...THE DEPRESSION IS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE TOTAL RAIN ACCUMULATIONS OF 10 TO 15 INCHES OVER SOUTHERN LOUISIANA...SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI...AND SOUTHERN ALABAMA THROUGH SUNDAY...WITH POSSIBLE ISOLATED MAXIMUM AMOUNTS OF 20 INCHES.
Tropical storms don’t get the kind of respect that hurricanes do from the press or the public, but they have a history of causing significant damage and loss of life.
A prime example would be T.S. Alllison, which struck Texas and the Gulf coast 10 years ago, dumping as much as 35 inches of rain, killing 41 people, flooding 70,000 homes, and causing 5.5 billion dollars in damages as she lingered for days.
Meanwhile, in the mid-Atlantic, Tropical Storm Katia continues on a northwestward course that should take it north of the island, but may adopt a more westerly turn in a couple of days.
It is too soon to know what threat, if any, Katia will pose to land.
With the exception of Irene, the U.S. mainland has been pretty lucky this year, but the Atlantic Hurricane season is only half over. Historically September and October are the busiest months of the season, and so we’ve a long way to go.
Photo Credit- NOAA
Reason enough make whatever preparations you can now, before a storm threatens you, your family, or your business. Which is why the month of September is designated National Preparedness Month.
To become better prepared as an individual, family, business owner, or community to deal with hurricanes, or any other type of disaster: visit the following preparedness sites.
FEMA http://www.fema.gov/index.shtm
READY.GOV http://www.ready.gov/
AMERICAN RED CROSS http://www.redcross.org/
