Tropical Storm Edouard hits SE Texas

GALVESTON, Texas, Aug. 5 (UPI) -- Tropical Storm Edouard made landfall Tuesday morning in Texas beyond the Louisiana border, packing 60 mph winds, U.S. forecasters reported.

At 10 a.m., the storm that formed Sunday over the Gulf of Mexico was 40 miles west of Port Arthur, Texas, and about 45 miles north-northeast of Galveston, the National Hurricane Center in Miami reported.

The storm was expected to produce 3-5 inches of rain in some southwestern Louisiana coastal parishes and southeastern Texas and tropical storm force winds were extending outward up to 70 miles, the report said.

Weakening was forecast as the storm moved inland.

National Guard troops were mobilized Monday to help with food distribution, clean-up or search-and-rescue operations if needed, Capt. Adam Collett of the 72nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team in Houston told The Galveston County Daily News.

National Weather Service meteorologist Tim Destri told The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune rainfall in Louisiana averaged 3 inches and tides were 1-2 feet above normal along the coast.