Hermine moves north

McALLEN — Tropical Storm Hermine should make its departure as quickly as it snuck up on the Rio Grande Valley late Monday evening.

• See the 7 a.m. Tuesday updated forecast

The storm’s center made landfall Monday night about 50 miles south of Brownsville.

From there, the storm was expected to follow a northwestern path over eastern Hidalgo County, said Jason Straub, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Brownsville.

The tropical storm’s winds — expected to be 40 mph when the storm’s center reached McAllen — were not a major concern.

Rather, flooding expected from rainfall totals between three and six inches — with isolated totals of nine inches — were forecast Monday night.

All that rainfall likely will cause localized flooding in low-lying areas and on flood-prone roadways.

A weaker storm than Hurricane Alex — which dumped heavy rains across the area in late June — Hermine should be out of the Rio Grande Valley by early Tuesday afternoon.

“This storm is a lot smaller,” Straub said. “It won’t have time to drop significant flooding amounts of rain.”

SHORT NOTICE

Meteorologists declared Hermine a tropical storm before dawn Monday, leaving emergency management officials in the Rio Grande Valley little time to prepare. 

George Garrett, Mid-Valley emergency management coordinator, said cities there did not have sandbags to distribute, given the short notice and lack of supply to distribute to the public. 

"We're just ramping up to deal with this event as best we can because of the short notice," he said. 

Sandbags were available in other cities and eastern Hidalgo County precincts, where many homes are in flood-prone areas.

No evacuations were ordered and no shelters had opened in Hidalgo County late Monday evening.

Tony Pena, Hidalgo County emergency management coordinator, said Hermine may have approached the area more quickly than other recent tropical storms, but that did not catch officials off guard.

“For a gulf storm, this is about as much notice as you’re going to get,” Pena said.

No schools in Hidalgo or Starr counties declared cancellations or delays for classes Tuesday. As of Monday evening, Tuesday classes remained scheduled as normal at the University of Texas-Pan American and South Texas College, as well.

Whether Hermine would bring a second round of prolonged flooding across the Rio Grande watershed remained to be seen.

“It’s a little too early to tell what kind of effect it’s going to have,” Straub said.

After Hermine passes, forecasters expect widespread rainfall to persist through the rest of the week.

READY ALREADY

In Pharr, area home improvement store managers said business was relatively slow despite Hermine's expected landfall tonight.

McAllen resident Yajaira Soto, 29, was picking up supplies at The Home Depot, 409 N. Jackson Road, to keep her dog house from flooding, as it did when Hurricane Alex made landfall in June. 

Elizabeth Ponce of San Juan was there with her husband and toddler son. The family was looking for supplies to build some steps at their house. 

"We’re using boards from Hurricane Alex and we already have canned food and water," she said in Spanish. "So we're prepared. We already set up our boards, too." 

At Lowes, 707 S. Jackson Road, department sales manager Jesse Flores said business has been slow. Many people have been looking for grills and lawn sets, but fewer have been stocking up on storm supplies. 

"I was expecting a lot of sales on the plywood, but I don't see a sense of urgency," Flores said.  "It's weird. I thought we were going to be really busy."

Many of the shoppers did not seem too concerned about the storm. Besides their regular groceries, most only stocked up on bottled water.

Jesus de Leon, 30, had bottled water in his shopping cart, but he said he wasn’t purchasing it because of the storm.

“Last time we prepared and nothing happened, so we still have stuff from last time,” he said in Spanish. “This is what I usually buy for my family.”

CAMERON AND WILLACY COUNTIES

Unlike most other recent tropical storms or hurricanes to affect the Valley, coastal counties were not expected to feel the brunt of the storm.

Still, Cameron and Willacy county officials geared up for Hermine approach.

Some schools in Cameron County delayed or canceled classes in anticipation of the Hermine’s watery wrath.

Cameron County Judge Carlos Cascos ordered a voluntary evacuation of high-profile vehicles from county parks on South Padre Island. All individuals with RVs or other high-profile vehicles were encouraged to consider taking precautionary measures and relocating immediately.

Cascos also ordered the closures of beach accesses on the north end of South Padre Island due to high tides and dangerous conditions.

Frank Torres, emergency management coordinator in Willacy County, said officials prepared sandbags and let people know Hermine was coming on short notice.

“It just popped up out of nowhere,” he said.

MEXICO

Officials south of the Rio Grande prepared for Hermine’s landfall, as well.

The storm was expected to land on the rural ranchlands of northeast Tamaulipas state — home to a dangerous turf war between two drug cartels. The land is the same area where 72 migrants were found dead two weeks ago in Mexico’s worst drug gang massacre to date.

Mexican emergency officials urged residents in low-lying areas to move inland, but no immediate evacuation plans were enacted.

"We urge the general population to be on alert for possible floods and mudslides," said Salvador Trevino, director of civil defense of Tamaulipas state.

___

Laura B. Martinez of The Brownsville Herald and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

___

Jared Taylor covers law enforcement and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4439. Naxiely Lopez  covers Pharr, San Juan, Alamo and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach her at (956) 683-4434.

• 7 A.M. NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER UPDATE: 

000
WTNT35 KNHC 071154
TCPAT5
BULLETIN
TROPICAL STORM HERMINE INTERMEDIATE ADVISORY NUMBER 6A
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL AL102010
700 AM CDT TUE SEP 07 2010

...HERMINE CONTINUES MOVING INLAND OVER SOUTH TEXAS...SPREADING VERY
HEAVY RAINS AND STRONG WINDS NORTHWARD...


SUMMARY OF 700 AM CDT...1200 UTC...INFORMATION
----------------------------------------------
LOCATION...27.7N 98.2W
ABOUT 35 MI...60 KM SW OF MATHIS TEXAS
ABOUT 50 MI...80 KM W OF CORPUS CHRISTI TEXAS
MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS...45 MPH...75 KM/HR
PRESENT MOVEMENT...NNW OR 345 DEGREES AT 17 MPH...28 KM/HR
MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE...995 MB...29.38 INCHES


WATCHES AND WARNINGS
--------------------
CHANGES WITH THIS ADVISORY...

NONE.

SUMMARY OF WATCHES AND WARNINGS IN EFFECT...

A TROPICAL STORM WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR...
* THE MOUTH OF THE RIO GRANDE NORTHWARD TO PORT OCONNOR TEXAS

FOR STORM INFORMATION SPECIFIC TO YOUR AREA...INCLUDING POSSIBLE
INLAND WATCHES AND WARNINGS...PLEASE MONITOR PRODUCTS ISSUED BY
YOUR LOCAL NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST OFFICE.


DISCUSSION AND 48-HOUR OUTLOOK
------------------------------
AT 700 AM CDT...1200 UTC...THE CENTER OF TROPICAL STORM HERMINE WAS
LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 27.7 NORTH...LONGITUDE 98.2 WEST. HERMINE IS
MOVING TOWARD THE NORTH-NORTHWEST NEAR 17 MPH...28 KM/HR. A TURN
TOWARD THE NORTH AND THEN NORTH-NORTHEAST WITH A DECREASE IN
FORWARD SPEED IS EXPECTED OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS.

MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS HAVE DECREASED TO NEAR 45 MPH...75 KM/HR...
WITH HIGHER GUSTS. ADDITIONAL WEAKENING IS FORECAST DURING THE
NEXT 48 HOURS...AND HERMINE IS EXPECTED TO BECOME A TROPICAL
DEPRESSION LATER TODAY.

TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 105 MILES...165
KM...MAINLY TO THE NORTHEAST OF THE CENTER. A WIND GUST OF 56
MPH...91 KM/HR...WAS REPORTED AT KINGSVILLE TEXAS JUST BEFORE 6 AM
CDT.

ESTIMATED MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE IS 995 MB...29.38 INCHES.


HAZARDS AFFECTING LAND
----------------------
WIND...TROPICAL STORM CONDITIONS ARE OCCURRING OVER PORTIONS OF DEEP
SOUTH TEXAS. THESE CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE TO SPREAD NORTHWARD
ACROSS PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN TEXAS NEAR AND ALONG THE PATH OF
HERMINE THROUGH THIS MORNING.

STORM SURGE...STORM SURGE WILL RAISE WATER LEVELS BY AS MUCH AS 1 TO
3 FEET ABOVE GROUND LEVEL ALONG THE IMMEDIATE COAST OF SOUTHERN
TEXAS. WATER LEVELS WILL BEGIN TO RECEDE LATER TODAY AS HERMINE
MOVES FARTHER INLAND.

RAINFALL...HERMINE IS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE TOTAL RAINFALL
ACCUMULATIONS OF 4 TO 8 INCHES...WITH ISOLATED MAXIMUM AMOUNTS OF
12 INCHES POSSIBLE...FROM SOUTHERN TEXAS NORTHWARD THROUGH CENTRAL
AND NORTHERN TEXAS...AND OVER CENTRAL AND EASTERN OKLAHOMA. THESE
RAINS ARE EXPECTED TO SPREAD NORTHEASTWARD ACROSS SOUTHEASTERN
KANSAS...NORTHWESTERN ARKANSAS...AND MISSOURI DURING THE NEXT FEW
DAYS. THE HEAVY RAINFALL COULD CAUSE LIFE-THREATENING FLASH FLOODS.

TORNADOES...ISOLATED TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE ACROSS PORTIONS OF
SOUTHEAST TEXAS THROUGH TODAY.