Sept. 12, 2007

COLLEGE STATION – As residents along the Gulf of Mexico coast take stock of the potential tropical storm expected to arrive this evening, Texas Cooperative Extension reminds that information on how to prepare for emergencies is available on the Internet.

The Texas Extension Disaster Education Network, http://texashelp.tamu.edu, has preparedness, mitigation and recovery information. News media are welcome to use the information at that site as well as the print and audio news articles at http://agnews.tamu.edu/issues/hurricaneinfo.html/

According to the National Weather Service, this storm may hit the Texas coast by 7 p.m. tonight. The storm is not expected to build to hurricane strength winds but is moving slow with lots of rain, according to Dr. Andy Vestal, Extension emergency preparedness leader.

Landfall between Galveston and Freeport is most probable, Vestal noted, and it is expected to track in a northeasterly direction through Houston then toward a region between Lufkin and Nacogdoches.

The weather service is predicting 2-5 inches of rainfall in the next 24-hour period and 8-10 inches in areas within the next 72 hours. Some areas, the weather service predicts, may receive up to 15 inches of rainfall.