Sept 1 (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Edouard churned out of the Gulf of Mexico and sloshed ashore near the Texas-Louisiana border on Tuesday, packing sustained winds of up to 60 miles per hour and unleashing soaking downpours.
According to the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Edouard made landfall near Johnson Bayou in the southwesternmost corner of Louisiana at about 2:20 p.m. Central time (1920 GMT), and veered west, spreading heavy rains and gale-force winds into southeastern Texas.
Forecasters say Edouard is expected to weaken rapidly as the storm center moves farther inland, diminishing to a tropical depression by early on Wednesday.
Still, the storm was carrying a substantial load of moisture siphoned up from warm Gulf waters, with as much as 9 inches of rain expected to fall along the storm's inner path from the coastline into east-central Texas, the hurricane center said.
Forecasters warned that heavy downpours could spawn local flash flooding.
The storm disrupted electricity supplies for more than 4,000 homes and businesses in southeastern Texas, according to utilities.
Little if any consequence to Gulf Coast oil and gas production was reported, though people familiar with regional energy plant operations said East Texas refineries took steps to secure their facilities ahead of the storm.
"We are closely monitoring Tropical Storm Edouard," Shell said in a statement ahead of the storm's landfall. "At this time, we do not anticipate weather impacts to production or drilling."
Edouard is the fifth named storm of the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season, which officially began on June 1 and runs to November 30, though none have reached hurricane strength.
(Reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles, Erwin Seba in Houston and Anjana Anil in Bengaluru;)
