Texas Coast Reeling From Hurricane Humberto

HOUSTON, Texas, September 13, 2007 (ENS) - Hurricane Humberto lashed southeast Texas early this morning, bringing heavy rains and maximum sustained winds of 80 miles per hour to Jefferson, Orange and Galveston Counties before it headed into Louisiana, the National Weather Service said.

Humberto developed from a tropical depression into a Category 1 hurricane in just over 12 hours and came ashore less than 50 miles from where Hurricane Rita hit in 2005.

The storm slammed the Texas town of High Island, known for its migratory bird sanctuary, blew through Hamshire, Fannett, and Labelle and then struck Port Arthur, where trees and power lines were toppled and the roofs flew off of trailer homes.

Power was knocked out for most of Beaumont and Port Arthur, Texas, leaving about 100,000 customers in the dark, including Jefferson County's Emergency Operations Center in Beaumont.

Joe Domino, Entergy Texas president and chief executive officer, today said that after reviewing some of the first damage assessments, he expects the company to have all customers who are able to receive power restored by Tuesday.

Entergy says restoration workers were put on notice Wednesday in advance of the storm. About 1,000 workers, plus support staff, are responding to Humberto, with another 600 requested from other Entergy areas and utilities.

Texas Governor Rick Perry today declared three southeast Texas counties disaster areas. “Texans in Jefferson, Orange and Galveston Counties can rest assured that we have deployed the necessary resources to help them recover from the devastation resulting from this storm,” Perry said.

Perry activated 50 military vehicles with 200 soldiers, as well as six helicopters and two swift-water rescue teams. Other crews from the U.S. Coast Guard were on standby.

Many Texas residents, including the governor, are worried as heavy rain inundated areas already soaked from a record wet summer. “Some areas of our state remain saturated by summer floods, and many communities in this storm’s projected path are at high risk of dangerous flash flooding,” Perry said.

In Louisiana, Governor Kathleen Blanco declared a state of emergency. "I also want our people to be prepared, as this storm serves as another reminder of how quickly storms can form. Especially now, in the height of hurricane season, we must all be personally ready to act," said the governor who was in office when hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated some of the same areas in 2005.

Areas of southwest Louisiana not fully recovered from Rita fear that flooding may follow in Humberto's wake. The storm has now weakened to a tropical depression while moving northeastward over central Louisiana, says the National Weather Service.

Meanwhile, out in the open Atlantic ocean 800 miles east of the Lesser Antilles, Tropical Storm Ingrid today became the ninth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

Ingrid was moving toward the west-northwest at about six mph and is expected to continue at that pace for the next 24 hours.

Maximum sustained winds were near 40 mph with higher gusts were measured by a NOAA hurricane hunter aircraft on a research mission. Ingrid is expected to gain some strength on Friday.

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