The first named tropical storm of the young season is bearing down on the Upper Texas Coast, and has prompted warnings all along the Gulf Coast, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
The National Hurricane Center expects Cindy to come ashore early Thursday between the Sabine River and Galveston Island, which means the City of Beaumont, where Greg Fountain is Emergency Manager Director, is right in the bulls' eye.
"Models put it more of a Boliver Peninsula landfall, then Jefferson County will be on the 'dirty side' of the storm," Fountain told News Radio 1200 WOAI. "That means 40 to 60 mile an hour winds, and four to six inches of rain, possibly as many as ten," he said.
The storm is expected to come ashore Thursday morning, then turn sharply to the east.
While the storm is not expected to impact weather as far west as metro San Antonio, there are 'no swimming' warnings posted down the Gulf Coast due to the possibilty of deadly rip currents. A warning was posted last night by the Padre Island National Seashore.
Fountain says he has no plans to issue evacuation orders, but it is warning residents of Jefferson County to be prepared.
"It's not predicted to become a hurricane," he said. "We thought the same thing back in 2007 when Tropical Storm Humberto quickly turned into Hurricane Humberto, so we we could be without lights for several days."
He says residents of Jefferson County should make sure they have plenty of food and drinking water, and be ready for the possibility of drenching rains, flooding, and a lack of electricity.
IMAGE: NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER