PORT ARTHUR, Texas — The former Tropical Storm Edouard weakened into a depression Tuesday night while unleashing heavy rains and strong winds on parts of Texas, knocking out power to thousands, toppling trees and flooding roads. The storm downgraded hours after making landfall near the Texas-Louisiana border with maximum sustained winds of 60 mph (95 kph), according to the National Hurricane Center. Forecasters said the system would keep losing strength as it pushed inland but would likely continue to produce heavy rains and possible flooding into Wednesday. Meanwhile, a burst of tropical weather continued in the Pacific, where three named storms were churning in open waters. The hurricane centre expected Edouard to dump three to seven inches (eight to 17 centimetres) of rain with up to 12 inches (30 centimetres) in some areas. Storm makes landfall along Texas-Louisiana line As the centre of the storm passed over Beaumont, Texas, about 80 miles (130 kilometers) northeast of Houston, the city’s offices were shuttered and the Texas Office of Emergency Management warned residents to stay off the road. Throughout the city were downed trees blocking roads, traffic signals that weren’t working and flooded underpasses, Beaumont Police said in a post on social media. About 32,000 utility customers were without electricity in Jefferson County, which includes Beaumont, according to poweroutage.com. Mike Gilbert decided ahead of the storm to close his surf shop on Texas’ Crystal Beach because he didn’t want to risk his employees having a difficult time getting home. But, he said, it had ended up just being gray skies and drizzly rain there Tuesday as Edouard made landfall about 60 miles (96 kilometers) northeast of his shop. “You literally never know,” Gilbert said. “It could have all of a sudden moved over 50 miles and picked up 20 mph in wind and it could have been a whole different story.” In Cameron, La., the winds had picked up by Tuesday morning and rain was coming through on and off, said Connor Salvador, who owns an RV park there near the coast. He said while there could be a “little bit” of flooding if they get a lot of rain, he wasn’t too worried about Edouard. “We’re pretty used to all these types of storms that come through,” he said. Several storms in the Pacific Ocean Forecasters said newly formed Hurricane Lowell in the Pacific Ocean was expected to remain several hundred miles away from Hawaii for the next several days at least, but swells from the hurricane were likely to impact parts of the islands beginning Wednesday. “This hurricane is likely to increase the surf and make for dangerous beach conditions and marine conditions for any boaters near the Hawaiian islands over the next few days,” said Andrew Hagen, a forecaster with the National Hurricane Center. Tropical Storm Marie formed in the Pacific Ocean early Tuesday well offshore of southwest Mexico, the centre said. Forecasters said it was expected to become a hurricane by Wednesday night, and swells generated by the storm were expected to affect parts of the coast in southwestern Mexico and the Baja California peninsula over the next few days. Elsewhere in the Pacific, Karina became a hurricane Sunday, fuelled by warm waters far from any shore. It strengthened Monday into a powerful Category 4 storm but forecasters said Tuesday that it was expected to weaken. ___ Jamie Stengle and Lekan Oyekanmi, The Associated Press Stengle reported from Dallas. Associated Press journalists Julie Walker in New York and Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed to this report.
