Hurricane Humberto

Final Posting | Summary
Posting Date: September 13, 2007, 2:00:00 PM

Hurricane Humberto slammed into southeastern Texas at 02:00 CDT Thursday, ravaging the Beaumont-Port Arthur metropolitan area just north of Galveston before continuing onward to southwestern Louisiana. The Category 1 storm swept ashore between Galveston and Port Arthur at the coastal community of High Island. Heavy rains there flooded streets. Flooding from Humberto also closed State Highway 87 just south of Port Arthur, isolating Sabine Pass, which serves the Beaumont-Port Arthur region. Street flooding is anticipated in other parts of Texas and Louisiana. Meanwhile, 85 mph winds toppled trees and knocked out power to about 100, 000 customers. One man was killed when his carport fell on him at the height of the storm. Port Arthur, an important refining center about 16 miles southeast of Beaumont, received rain at a rapid rate from Humberto—about 2 inches per hour. Total SA, Europe's third-largest oil company reported that its refinery in Port Arthur, which produces 240,000 barrels of oil a day, lost power due to strong winds. Valero Energy Corp, which also closed due to the storm, produces 325,000 barrels daily. Crews are working to restore power to these facilities. Five hours after slow-moving Humberto came ashore, its peak winds decreased slightly, to 80 mph. As of 10:00 CDT today, Humberto was located about 75 miles west-northwest of Lafayette, Louisiana. The storm was moving northeast at 12 mph with 65 mph maximum sustained winds. Hurricane Humberto intensified at a rapid rate. According to the National Hurricane Center, it was the fastest intensifying tropical cyclone just before landfall in historical record—reaching hurricane status just 14 hours after developing into a tropical depression. Forecasters originally thought Humberto would hit closer to Galveston on Wednesday night, but the storm lingered over Gulf waters, which were abnormally warm, giving it sufficient time to reach hurricane strength. As of 10 September, the northwest Gulf of Mexico was about 1-2° C above the climatological average. Forecasters said that had Humberto had another 12-24 hours over water, it could have been a major event that would have hit without enough time to evacuate those at risk. Humberto was quite small for a relatively weak hurricane. The radius of maximum winds is estimated around 10 miles indicating a very compact structure and wind footprint. The compact nature of the storm may be one reason why Humberto was able to intensify rapidly to hurricane strength. The nature of this storm’s rapid intensification from tropical depression to hurricane will certainly be a subject of future research. Humberto is the third hurricane of the 2007 Atlantic season and the first to hit the mainland US. Using the available meteorological parameters and forecast track for Humberto, the AIR hurricane team has run AIR's US hurricane model. AIR estimates that insured losses are unlikely to exceed $200 million. Humberto will continue to move across central Louisiana today and could drop more than a foot of rain on some already saturated parts of Texas and Louisiana, where the governor has declared a state of emergency. Rains pose a larger threat than wind, and communities in the storm's path are at high risk of dangerous flooding. Humberto is expected to pass through Lake Charles, Louisiana, by late morning and then head eastward through central Louisiana and into Mississippi by early Friday morning. Up to 15 inches of rain and isolated tornados are possible along the track. The storm is not expected to cause a large coastal flooding storm surge. Meanwhile, the National Hurricane Center is also keeping an eye on Tropical Depression Eight, which formed in the Atlantic Ocean on Wednesday and has a chance to become a tropical storm later in the day.

Final Posting | Downloads
Posting Date: September 13, 2007, 2:00:00 PM