Quick-forming Hurricane Humberto breaks records

[peejay 327]

Humberto breaks records

Storm hits Texas-Louisiana coast, killing 1, cutting off power to thousands

MSNBC News Services

Updated: 1:39 p.m. CT Sept 13, 2007

BEAUMONT, Texas - Call it the instant hurricane. Humberto grew from a tropical depression with 35 mph winds to a full-scale hurricane in 18 hours, surprising the Texas-Louisiana coast Thursday with 80 mph winds and heavy rain.

“To put this development in perspective, no tropical cyclone in the historical record has ever reached this intensity at a faster rate near landfall,” said senior hurricane specialist James Franklin at the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

Meteorologists dismissed the idea that Humberto's rapid growth was the result of global warming. They also noted one positive: The storm's short genesis didn't give Humberto time to build into more than just a minimal hurricane.

Humberto, the first hurricane to hit the U.S. in two years, crashed ashore as a Category 1 storm, killing at least one person, shutting down three refineries and cutting power to 100,000 customers.

By midmorning, Humberto was downgraded to a tropical storm.

At 11 a.m. ET, the storm was 75 miles west-northwest of Lafayette, La., with sustained winds of about 65 mph. Rain accumulations of 4 to 8 inches were expected across much of Louisiana, Mississippi and part of Arkansas, with 12 inches possible in some spots.

Flooding feared

In Louisiana, roads were flooded and power was knocked out. The greatest concern was heavy rain falling in areas already inundated by a wet summer.

Edward Petty, 50, was clearing debris in front of his Beaumont home and said he was surprised by the quick turn.

“It was amazing to go to sleep to a tropical storm and wake up to a hurricane,” he said. “What are you going to do? You couldn’t get up and drive away. You couldn’t run for it. You just have to hunker down.”

Humberto made landfall less than 50 miles from where Hurricane Rita did in 2005, and areas of southwest Louisiana not fully recovered from Rita were bracing for more misery.

“I’m in a FEMA trailer (because of Rita) and I’m on oxygen,” said Albertha Garrett, 70, who spent the night at a shelter in the Lake Charles Civic Center. “I had to come to the civic center just in case the lights would go out, because I’m alone and I’m handicapped.”

The storm struck about 5 miles east of High Island, near the eastern tip of the Texas coast.

Power outages

About 100,000 customers were without power in Beaumont and Port Arthur, Entergy Texas spokeswoman Debi Derrick said. In Louisiana, the storm flooded highways and knocked out power to about 13,000 homes and businesses.

One location blacked out in Texas was Jefferson County’s Emergency Operations Center in Beaumont, where winds reached 75 to 80 mph, said Michael White, the county’s assistant emergency management coordinator. Officials there tracked the storm with laptops.

Along Port Arthur’s refinery row, several plants were idled until power was restored, including ones run by Valero Energy Corp. and Total SA with a combined capacity of 565,000 barrels of crude oil and liquid hydrocarbons a day, spokesmen for the companies said.

One death reported

One man died in southeast Texas when the carport at his home collapsed on him, Bridge City Police Chief Steve Faircloth said. The town is between Port Arthur and Orange.

The Beaumont Enterprise reported that in High Island, the storm ripped the roof off a grocery store and toppled the scoreboard and clusters of lights at the football stadium.

Hurricane and tropical storm warnings and watches were discontinued for the Texas and Louisiana coasts by midmorning. At 11 a.m. ET, the center of Humberto was about 75 miles west-northwest of Lafayette, La. It was moving toward the north-northeast near 12 mph.

The highest rainfall in Texas was on the Bolivar Peninsula of Galveston Island, which got 6½ inches of rain, the National Weather Service said. The storm had been expected to dump up to 10 inches of rain.

Gov. Rick Perry declared Jefferson, Orange and Galveston counties disaster areas.

“We’re pushing in generators, water and ice to affected areas, particularly those who have lost power,” said Robert Black, Perry’s spokesman. “We’re working with the private sector to get power restored as quickly as possible.”

State of emergency

In Louisiana, Gov. Kathleen Blanco declared a state of emergency. Calcasieu and Vermilion parishes had shelters on standby. Vermilion also was making sandbags and sand available, said Mark Smith, a spokesman for the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness.

Last month, at least six deaths were blamed on Tropical Storm Erin, which dropped nearly a foot of rain in parts of Texas.

In 2001, Tropical Storm Allison soaked Houston with 20 inches of rain in eight hours. About two dozen people died and damage was estimated at $5 billion.

Humberto was the third hurricane of the 2007 Atlantic hurricane season, and was dwarfed by its ferocious Category 5 predecessors Dean and Felix. They struck Mexico and Central America, respectively, with Felix killing at least 130 people.

Another tropical depression was far in the open Atlantic on Thursday morning, about 895 miles east of the Lesser Antilles. It had maximum sustained winds near 35 mph, and forecasters said it could grow into a tropical storm in the next day.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20742710/

I just got home from my work offshore on a production platform 100 miles south of the Texas - Louisiana border. The southeast quadrant of the storm raked across us all night. By afternoon it passed us and they were able to send out a helicopter to get us for crew change. Lots of wind, rain, and high seas, but not so bad. I was surprised that it formed into a hurricane so close to shore.

My workweek is over and I'm on vacation for 21 days. My wife is having a hysterectomy on the 19th and I took my vacation to be with her as much as I can before I return to work on October 4.

The air conditioner went out in our house while my wife is at work and that is what I came home to. I'm waiting for a repairman to show up. It's 88*F in the house and I'm going outside till the repairman gets here. It's actually cooler outside.

Later...

[almaty 19]

damn brother peejay, that is terrible.....i hope you get the air con fixed...stay safe

[mawilson 2,133]

Definitely more powerful than Hurricane Almaty...er...I mean Dean.

[reeses16 8]

Wow, I didn't know Humberto was record breaking. Hope the AC gets turned on soon and I wish your wife a speedy recovery after her surgery.

[peejay 327]

Thanks everybody. As I often tell my wife...everything will be OK. And if it isn't...we'll fix it as best as we can.

[almaty 19]

Definitely more powerful than Hurricane Almaty...er...I mean Dean.

[Nearly Done 8]

Thanks everybody. As I often tell my wife...everything will be OK. And if it isn't...we'll fix it as best as we can.

Hope the AC is working now! and best wishes to your wife for a speedy recovery. It is nice that you can enjoy a few together before surgery and fabulous that you will be there for her afterwards.

Margy:)