Ports closed as Tropical Storm Beta eyes Gulf Coast (with forecast video)

Tropical Storm Beta, the 24th named storm of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, will likely flood areas of the Gulf Coast this week.

Beta is spinning over the western Gulf of Mexico, drifting toward Texas. It will probably make landfall near the San Antonio Bay, Texas, area Monday night.

With prolonged rainfall and storm surge in the forecast, some ports in Texas have already closed. According to the U.S. Coast Guard, these ports are Houston, Freeport, Victoria, Galveston and Texas City. They are under port condition Zulu, which means the ports are closed to all inbound and outbound traffic. Other restrictions regarding loading and unloading of cargo may also apply and are the discretion of the captain of the port (COPT). These restrictions may occur at Louisiana ports later this week.

It’s not clear as of Monday morning how long the ports may stay closed. Once Beta makes landfall, it will move slowly along the Texas coast for at least a couple of days before it curves toward southern Louisiana and the lower Mississippi Valley. Beta’s slow movement is why significant flash flooding and some river flooding will be the main issues and primary threats. The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued flash flood watches for these areas, and the National Hurricane Center (NHC) ha issued a tropical storm warning from Port Arkansas, Texas to Morgan City, Louisiana.