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[h=4]Tropical Storm Bill heads for Texas coast[/h]Heavy rain, some flooding likely as quick-moving storm comes ashore.
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A Flood Watch goes into effect tonight at 10pm for the Houston area. The storm is predicted to hit between 4am and 6am Tuesday.
Tropical Storm Bill(Photo: National Weather Service)
HOUSTON — As if Texas hasn't had enough rain this spring, now the state faces a visit from Tropical Storm Bill early Tuesday.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Monday night that Bill was centered about 160 miles east-southeast of Port O'Connor, Texas, and about 155 miles south-southeast of Galveston, Texas. A tropical storm warning is in effect for the coast of Texas from Baffin Bay to High Island.
Bill had maximum sustained winds of 50 mph and was moving northwest at about 12 mph. On the current forecast track, the storm would make landfall along the Texas coast Tuesday morning before moving inland over south-central Texas on Tuesday afternoon and Tuesday night.
The center said some slight strengthening is possible before landfall. Bill is expected to weaken after moving over land.
A Flash Flood Watch is effect for the Houston area through 6 p.m. Wednesday with street flooding likely from 6 to 8 inches of rain expected, the NHC said. West of Houston, 10 to 15 inches of rain may fall, and south of the city, where heavy rains hit Saturday morning, the ground is already saturated.
Rough surf doesn't deter swimmers near the 61st Street Pier in Galveston, Texas, on June 15, 2015, as a tropical disturbance approaches the gulf coast.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: AP/Jennifer Reynolds, The Galveston County Daily News)
"Instead of just an isolated area, it's going to be area-wide," said Harris County Judge Ed Emmett. "If you don't have to be out Tuesday, Tuesday evening, don't."
People living along the Brazos and Colorado river basins should expect significant flooding as the tropical moisture moves through, forecasters said.
The Harris County Office of Emergency Management has been activated.
Once Bill makes landfall, it should quickly push through the area and be gone by Wednesday evening, though some lingering showers could remain Thursday and Friday.
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Officials are preparing for an event similar to two weeks ago as heavy rain is expected in North Texas this week. Jim Douglas reports.
And in North Texas, if Yogi Berra worked for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, he'd be talking about déjà vu all over again.
"We're going to have spillway activity, roads closed, impact to downstream properties," said Corps engineer Jerry Cotter.
He said 5 to 7 inches of rain would create flooding very similar to what the area saw two weeks ago. Corps lakes have reduced discharges, but they're still releasing water enough to protect the lakes without doing harm on the lower Trinity River.
"So we've been sitting here waiting for the floods to recede on the lower Trinity," Cotter said. "We haven't made much headway emptying out these flood-control pools."
He said flood control lakes have been performing as they're supposed to. He said Lake Ray Roberts now has a little capacity, which should help, depending on where the rain falls.
"That's what we're hoping," Cotter said. "That we have enough capacity to handle it when it hits."
Nevertheless, he says people who live and work downstream from Lewisville Lake should expect a repeat performance from the end of May.
Cotter says Corps staff will be monitoring rainfall and lake levels round the clock as heavy rains from Tropical Storm Bill approach from the south.
Dallas officials plan to activate the city's Emergency Operations Center on Tuesday. City crews will begin pre-staging street barriers Tuesday morning in anticipation of street closures.
Contributing: Jim Douglas, WFAA-TV, Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, and The Associated Press
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