Coastal Texas and Louisiana warned of tropical storm, while another storm moves toward Hawaii

MIAMI — Tropical Storm Edouard formed Monday (Aug 31) in the Gulf of Mexico and was expected to gain strength before bringing potentially heavy rains and flooding into parts of Texas and Louisiana.The storm was upgraded Monday night from a tropical depression and forecasters with the National Hurricane Centre expect it will make landfall in Texas on Tuesday.Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said the biggest problem expected from the storm is flooding. Forecasters are anticipating 7-15 centimetres of rain in the greater Houston area, with some areas of the state’s upper coast getting up to 22 centimetres. More than 10 centimetres per hour could fall and will likely cause flash flooding in low-lying and urban areas, according to the National Hurricane Centre.”This is our first big storm of the season, and I’ll tell you, Texas is prepared,” Orlando Alanis of the Texas Division of Emergency Management said during a news conference.The tropical storm was centred Monday evening about 225 kilometres southeast of Cameron, Louisiana, and 280 kilometres southeast of Port Arthur, Texas, with maximum sustained winds of 65 kph.