HOUSTON (Reuters) - Forecasters predicted heavy rains and flooding for the Houston area as Tropical Storm Humberto formed on Wednesday in the northern U.S. Gulf.
Tropical Storm Humberto is seen in a September 12, 2007 satellite image from the NOAA. Forecasters predicted heavy rains and flooding for the Houston area as Tropical Storm Humberto formed on Wednesday in the northern U.S. Gulf. REUTERS/NOAA/Handout
Hurricane trackers were also keeping an eye on a second storm system making its way west in the central Atlantic after being declared Tropical Depression 8 on Wednesday.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center said that a system offshore of Galveston, Texas, had become Tropical Storm Humberto.
At 1 p.m. CDT (2 p.m. EDT), Humberto was located 70 miles
south-southwest of Galveston and moving north at 6 mph (9 kph) with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph (75 kph).
“Additional strengthening is possible prior to landfall,” a hurricane center advisory said. “Rainfall amounts of 5 to 10 inches are expected along the middle and upper Texas Coast and in extreme southwestern Louisiana.”
Humberto already was affecting the Houston Ship Channel, which serves one of the United States’ busiest ports and primary oil-refining centers.
Pilots, who guide ships through the 50-mile (80-km) waterway, halted boarding ships at the channel entrance at midday on Wednesday due to rough seas.
The U.S. Coast Guard said pilots planned not to resume guiding ships up the channel until after Humberto passes.
Texas Division of Emergency Management positioned response and rescue teams to prepare for flooding in Houston and Beaumont-Port Arthur, officials said.
“These type storms get very intense quickly, and the threat right now is it’s slow-moving,” said Jack Colley, chief of the agency.
“The big concern is heavy rains in areas that have already been saturated with rain for some months now,” he said.
Hurricane trackers warned that Tropical Depression 8, which is farther out in the Atlantic, could eventually threaten the United States.
At 11 a.m. EDT, it was moving west-northwest at near 12 mph (19 kph) about 1,130 miles east of the Lesser Antilles islands.
In the U.S. Gulf, forecasts called for Humberto to make landfall around midnight CDT on Wednesday (1 a.m. EDT on Thursday) with heavy rain and tides as high as 2.5 feet (0.75 meter) above normal.
Forecasters said it appeared the storm would come ashore just west of Galveston, track northward on Thursday over Houston and then eastward across Beaumont and Port Arthur.
The area is a major oil-producing and gasoline-refining center, but industry officials said they were not expecting significant impact on operations.
“We’re watching it,” said Valero Energy Corp. spokesman Bill Day. “We’re not expecting it to affect operations at our refineries.”
Valero owns refineries in Houston, Texas City and Port Arthur, Texas.
AVN satellite image of tropical storm Humberto at 19:15 UTC on Wednesday, September 12, 2007. 
The eighth named storm of the , tropical storm Humberto, was named today over the Gulf of Mexico.

The  was about 70 miles south-southwest of , Texas at 2 p.m. EST and was moving towards the north at 6 mph.

Maximum sustained winds associated with the storm stood at 45 mph.

But, forecasters warn that additional strengthening is possible before the storm makes landfall.

While heavy rain is already pounding the Gulf Coast, Humberto's center is not expected to reach the coast of Texas until late tonight.

The  issued a  from , Texas, to , Louisiana.

Anywhere from 5 to 10 inches of rain is expected along the upper and middle coast of Texas, as well as in southwestern Louisiana. Some areas to be impacted by the storm may see rain totals near 15 inches, according to the NHC.

Also, the NHC warned storm surge flooding of 2 to 3 feet is possible.