Mayor to talk “possible voluntary evacuation of Port Arthur”
Published 7:49 am Sunday, September 20, 2020
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Port Arthur Mayor Thurman Bartie is holding a news conference at 10:30 a.m. Sunday to talk about response to Tropical Storm Beta.
According to the City of Port Arthur, the conference will take place in the lobby of the Port Arthur Police Department to unveil plans for a possible voluntary evacuation of Port Arthur due to Tropical Storm Beta.
A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect from Port Aransas Texas to Morgan City, Louisiana.
Tropical storm conditions are possible within the tropical storm watch area along the south Texas coast on Monday.
A tornado or two could occur Monday near the middle-upper Texas coast or the southwestern Louisiana coast.
According to the National Hurricane Center as of 6 a.m. Sunday, on the forecast track, the center of Beta will move toward the coast of Texas and will likely move inland Monday or Monday night.
Maximum sustained winds are near 60 mph with higher gusts. Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 195 miles from the center. Little change in strength is forecast to occur during the next couple of days before Beta reaches the Texas coast. Weakening is anticipated once Beta moves inland.
The combination of a dangerous storm surge and the tide will cause normally dry areas near the coast to be flooded by rising waters moving inland from the shoreline.
Through Thursday, Beta is expected to produce rainfall accumulations of 8 to 12 inches with isolated totals of 20 inches from the middle Texas coast to southern Louisiana, with 4 to 8 inches spreading northward into the lower Mississippi River Valley by mid-week. Flash and urban flooding is likely, as well as minor to isolated moderate river flooding.