Buddha
30th June 2010, 02:34 AM
A bit more at link http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/06/30/hurricane.alex/?hpt=T1
(CNN) -- Hurricane Alex gained strength early Wednesday as the storm began to take aim on the western Gulf of Mexico, the National Hurricane Center reported.
The Category 1 storm, which became the first June hurricane on the Atlantic side of the United States since 1995, is expected to make landfall in northeastern Mexico or southern Texas by late Wednesday or early Thursday.
The hurricane center's advisory issued at 2 a.m. ET said Alex was moving erratically, but generally westward, at 5 mph. The storm had maximum sustained winds of 80 mph and was about 255 miles southeast of Brownsville, Texas.
President Barack Obama issued a federal emergency declaration for Texas ahead of the expected arrival of Alex, the White House said Tuesday night.
A hurricane warning was issued for the Gulf Coast from Baffin Bay, Texas, to La Cruz, Mexico. A hurricane warning means that hurricane conditions and tropical storm-force winds are expected in the forecast area within 36 hours.
A tropical storm warning was in place along the Texas coast from Baffin Bay to Port O'Connor.
The storm continued to move away from the massive BP oil catastrophe near the Louisiana coast in the northern Gulf of Mexico, but it already was complicating cleanup efforts. The storm created 12-foot waves on Tuesday and oil skimming ships were sent back to shore, from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle.
The rough seas may force crews to replace and reorganize booms meant to deter the oil from reaching shore, reported CNN's Ed Lavandera.
(CNN) -- Hurricane Alex gained strength early Wednesday as the storm began to take aim on the western Gulf of Mexico, the National Hurricane Center reported.
The Category 1 storm, which became the first June hurricane on the Atlantic side of the United States since 1995, is expected to make landfall in northeastern Mexico or southern Texas by late Wednesday or early Thursday.
The hurricane center's advisory issued at 2 a.m. ET said Alex was moving erratically, but generally westward, at 5 mph. The storm had maximum sustained winds of 80 mph and was about 255 miles southeast of Brownsville, Texas.
President Barack Obama issued a federal emergency declaration for Texas ahead of the expected arrival of Alex, the White House said Tuesday night.
A hurricane warning was issued for the Gulf Coast from Baffin Bay, Texas, to La Cruz, Mexico. A hurricane warning means that hurricane conditions and tropical storm-force winds are expected in the forecast area within 36 hours.
A tropical storm warning was in place along the Texas coast from Baffin Bay to Port O'Connor.
The storm continued to move away from the massive BP oil catastrophe near the Louisiana coast in the northern Gulf of Mexico, but it already was complicating cleanup efforts. The storm created 12-foot waves on Tuesday and oil skimming ships were sent back to shore, from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle.
The rough seas may force crews to replace and reorganize booms meant to deter the oil from reaching shore, reported CNN's Ed Lavandera.