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Hurricane Humberto crashes ashore in Texas
By Juan A. Lozano
Associated Press
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BEAUMONT, Texas -- Humberto, the first hurricane to hit the U.S. in two years, sneaked up on south Texas and Louisiana overnight and crashed ashore Thursday with heavy rains and 80 mph winds, killing at least one person.

The system rapidly became a Category 1 hurricane, then weakened to a tropical storm by midmorning and bore into central Louisiana. Roads were flooded and power was knocked out, but the greatest concern was heavy rain falling in areas already inundated by a wet summer.

Humberto wasn't even a tropical storm until Wednesday afternoon, strengthening from a tropical depression with 35 mph winds to a hurricane with 85 mph winds in just 18 hours, senior hurricane specialist James Franklin said at the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

``To put this development in perspective — no tropical cyclone in the historical record has ever reached this intensity at a faster rate near landfall. It would be nice to know, someday, why this happened,'' Franklin said.

Edward Petty, 50, was clearing debris in front of his Beaumont home and said he was surprised by the quick turn.

``It was amazing to go to sleep to a tropical storm and wake up to a hurricane,'' he said. ``What are you going to do? You couldn't get up and drive away. You couldn't run for it. You just have to hunker down.''

Humberto made landfall less than 50 miles from where Hurricane Rita did in 2005, and areas of southwest Louisiana not fully recovered from Rita were bracing for more misery.

``I'm in a FEMA trailer (because of Rita) and I'm on oxygen,'' said Albertha Garrett, 70, who spent the night at a shelter in the Lake Charles Civic Center. ``I had to come to the civic center just in case the lights would go out, because I'm alone and I'm handicapped.''

The Category 1 storm struck about 5 miles east of High Island, near the eastern tip of the Texas coast.

About 100,000 customers were without power in Beaumont and Port Arthur, Entergy Texas spokeswoman Debi Derrick said. In Louisiana, the storm flooded highways and knocked out power to about 13,000 homes and businesses.

One location blacked out in Texas was Jefferson County's Emergency Operations Center in Beaumont, where winds reached 75 to 80 mph, said Michael White, the county's assistant emergency management coordinator. Officials there tracked the storm with laptops.

Along Port Arthur's refinery row, three plants run by Valero Energy Corp., Motiva and Total SA — with a combined capacity of 850,000 barrels of crude oil and liquid hydrocarbons a day — were idled until power was restored, spokesmen for the companies said. The plants themselves were not damaged, but gasoline futures rose slightly after the production problems were reported.

One man died in southeast Texas when the carport at his home collapsed on him, Bridge City Police Chief Steve Faircloth said. The town is between Port Arthur and Orange.

The Beaumont Enterprise reported that in High Island, the storm ripped the roof off a grocery store and toppled the scoreboard and clusters of lights at the football stadium.

Hurricane and tropical storm warnings and watches were discontinued for the Texas and Louisiana coasts by midmorning. At 11 a.m. EDT, the center of Humberto was about 75 miles west-northwest of Lafayette, La. It was moving toward the north-northeast near 12 mph.

The highest rainfall in Texas was on the Bolivar Peninsula of Galveston Island, which got 6½ inches of rain, the National Weather Service said.

Gov. Rick Perry declared Jefferson, Orange and Galveston counties disaster areas.

``We're pushing in generators, water and ice to affected areas, particularly those who have lost power,'' said Robert Black, Perry's spokesman. ``We're working with the private sector to get power restored as quickly as possible.''

In Louisiana, Gov. Kathleen Blanco declared a state of emergency, and southern parishes had shelters on standby with sandbags available.

Last month, at least six deaths were blamed on Tropical Storm Erin, which dropped nearly a foot of rain in parts of Texas.

In 2001, Tropical Storm Allison soaked Houston with 20 inches of rain in eight hours. About two dozen people died and damage was estimated at $5 billion.

Humberto is the first hurricane to hit the U.S. since Category 3 Wilma ripped through the Miami area in October 2005. The damage it inflicted made Wilma the third-most expensive U.S. hurricane after Katrina and Andrew.

Another tropical depression was far in the open Atlantic on Thursday, about 895 miles east of the Lesser Antilles. It had maximum sustained winds near 35 mph, and forecasters said it could grow into a tropical storm in the next day.

Take a look
Jack Payton, 72, sits in front of his home that was severely damaged by high winds from Hurricane Humberto as his wife, Connie Payton, removes a wreath from the front door Thursday, Sept. 13, 2007 in High Island, TX. The Paytons plan to stay with relatives until their home can be repaired. Humberto, the first hurricane to hit the U.S. in two years, sneaked up on south Texas and Louisiana overnight and crashed ashore Thursday with heavy rains and 80 mph winds, killing at least one person. (AP Photo/Dave Einsel)
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Reader comments on this story - 11 total

Note: All views and opinions expressed in reader comments are solely those of the individual submitting the comment, and not those of the Pantagraph or its staff.

hey wrote on Sep 13, 2007 7:04 PM:

" Kanye.... I got your joke. Seems like everything now a days is Bush's fault. Also God..not punishing Texas... if he wanted to punish Texas.. don't ya think the 'canes would hit mexico so more illgals would flood here? And the blood shed... will continue no matter who is our commander in chief. "

Leviticus 11:9-12 wrote on Sep 13, 2007 4:27 PM:

" " What color is the sky in your world, Leviticus? " The sky is whatever color I say it is. "

God to Leviticus again wrote on Sep 13, 2007 4:23 PM:

" Touche, I fell for it. See you in a couple hours! "

Luther Billis wrote on Sep 13, 2007 3:09 PM:

" This storm went from an unorganized Depression to a Hurricane in 14 hours: incredible! "

pool boy wrote on Sep 13, 2007 2:34 PM:

" What color is the sky in your world, Leviticus? "

God to Leviticus wrote on Sep 13, 2007 1:47 PM:

" What makes you think I was joking? And the blood of all those who have died in Bush's so called "War on Terror" is on yours. People like you are the reason I am no longer a Republican OR a Christian. "

God to Leviticus wrote on Sep 13, 2007 1:45 PM:

" What makes you think I was joking? And the blood of all those who have died in Bush's so called "War on Terror" is on yours. People like you are the reason I am no longer a Republican OR a Christian. "

Mothman wrote on Sep 13, 2007 12:23 PM:

" The previous two commentors are not so smart. Bush can't control the weather. Only democrates can do that. Of course I am kidding. Get a clue and quit wasting electrons, please! "

Leviticus 11:9-12 wrote on Sep 13, 2007 11:40 AM:

" To God: Spoken like a true Democrat. How can you joke about something as serious as a hurricane? Also, why bash George Bush? He's been a great leader through our war on terror. If it wasn't for him, we'd have terrorist attacks on our soil everyday. I hope you feel horrible if there are any deaths caused by Humberto. The blood is on your hands! "

God wrote on Sep 13, 2007 10:38 AM:

" is punishing Texas for electing George Bush. "

Kanye wrote on Sep 13, 2007 10:07 AM:

" Let me be the first to blame George Bush for this hurricane! It's all his fault. "
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