Tropical Storm Beta moves closer to the Texas coast and is expected to make landfall late Monday or early Tuesday. The typhoon has already been affecting parts of the southwestern Louisiana coast. As early as Sunday, residents in the areas of Port Aransas, Texas, to the Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge in Louisiana were requested to take all necessary actions to protect life and property as National Hurricane Center predicts heavy rainfall and storm surge of 2 to 4 feet.
CNN: Tropical Storm Beta could bring a storm surge of up to 4 feet in some places. Flooding could occur with little warning
According to CNN, the official landfall is forecast to be very late Monday or early Tuesday, but Texans should prepare for tropical storm conditions late Sunday through early Monday.
Beta is already bringing tropical storm conditions to parts of the southwestern Louisiana coast. A storm surge warning is also in effect from Port Aransas, Texas, to the Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge in Louisiana, where 2 to 4 feet of storm surge is possible.
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards urged residents to get ready for the storm.
The Texas State Operations Center has been activated to Level II, or Escalated Response Conditions, and Gov. Greg Abbott warned residents to heed the advice of local officials.
Weather.com: Tropical-storm-force winds will affect parts of coastal Louisiana and Texas through Monday
Weather.com reports that Beta is centered more than 100 miles southeast of Galveston, Texas, and is moving west-northwest at over 5 mph.
Showers and thunderstorms from Beta are affecting parts of coastal Louisiana and Texas right now.
Tropical-storm-force winds are already occurring in southwest Louisiana. These stronger winds will spread toward coastal Texas through early Monday.
The winds could trigger sporadic power outages and might down some trees, particularly in areas where the soil becomes saturated from heavy rainfall.
A few tornadoes are also possible on the upper Texas Coast and in southwest Lousiana on Monday.
