NEW ORLEANS -- Tropical Storm Jeanne, a freak November hurricane that quickly lost its punch, today turned northwest and was expected to move inland on the Louisiana coast Friday.
Jeanne wandered in the Gulf of Mexico early today, about 325 miles south-southwest of New Orleans, leaving forecasters uncertain of the storm's landfall. At 10 a.m. CST it was centered at latitude 25.8 north and longitude 94.0 west, about 325 miles south southwest of New Orleans.
Satellite information indicated Jeanne was moving west-northwest at 15 mph and the National Weather Service said it would come ashore in Louisiana Friday morning.
Winds accompanying the tropical storm were just below hurricane force at 70 mph and gale force winds extended 200 miles to the north and 50 miles to the south of the center.
Forecasters warned tides ranging up to 4 feet above normal along the coasts of Louisiana and Texas posed a continuing threat of beach erosion along the Texas coast.
Before the storm lost its hurricane status late Wednesday, it dropped almost 2 feet of rain and cut power in Key West, Fla., before moving into the central Gulf of Mexico.
Although the waters receded rapidly, damage to cars, businesses and about 300 was estimated at almost $1 million. One Key West resident took advantage of the flooding to water ski down Main Street -- pulled by a pickup truck.
Jeanne covered little ground Wednesday, moving fewer than 100 miles toward the west.
Forecaster Joe Pellisier at the National Hurricane Center predicted Jeanne would move into colder, drier air today or Friday and lose still more strength.
'I don't think this storm will come ashore as a hurricane -- probably not even as a tropical storm,' he said, adding that the storm's path and strength were too uncertain and slow to cause much concern onshore.
'It's just a matter of watching its course and keeping abreast of where it is -- but as far as taking any action, that would be premature,' he said.
Before Jeanne, which began as a tropical storm, passed into the Gulf of Mexico, it damaged the Cuban tobacco crop and forced evacuations in Cuba.
Swells of 15 feet were reported near Brownsville, Texas, posing the threat of beach erosion. Tides were expected to run up to 4 feet above normal.
More than 3,500 offshore oilfield workers in the Gulf of Mexico fled as Jeanne approached, causing millions of dollars of losses in production and through the cost of evacuations. Most of the workers boarded helicopters in gusty winds or crewboats in choppy seas for the ride to safety.
A section of South Padre Island, a barrier sandbar on the lower Texas Gulf Coast, was evacuated, but fewer than 100 people were affected. The Coast Guard used a helicopter and cutter to patrol the island to make sure people stayed away.
Don Hockaday, spokesman for the South Padre Marina and Condominiums, said few people there were concerned about Jeanne.
'When we have a hurricane warning I start worrying about it,' Hockaday said. 'We had a guy here today who said he was running back to Houston. Now if the hurricane hit, you could get out of here a lot easier than Houston.'
Jeanne, which developed just 2 weeks before the end of hurricane season, was one of the latest ever recorded in the Gulf of Mexico.
Most hurricanes form in August and September, but forecasters said warm air and warm Gulf and Caribbean waters -- a result of this summer's heat wave -- helped Jeanne grow.
