Post date: Jun 24, 2012 8:52:0 PM
PINELLAS COUNTY, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES (JUNE 24, 2012) (NBC) - Strong winds and heavy rain from Tropical Storm Debby reached the U.S. Gulf Coast on Sunday (June 24) as the storm meandered toward the Louisiana coast with 60 mph (95 kph) winds, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHS) said.
A strengthening tropical storm in the Gulf Coast prompts storm warnings and evacuations for coastal areas from Louisiana to Florida.
In Florida, wind-whipped waves crashed into the seawall sending foamy water on to the Courtney Campbell Causeway that connects Tampa to Clearwater. The storm brought down trees and kept drivers off the roads.
Debby, the first named storm of 2012 to enter the Gulf of Mexico, was centered about 190 miles (310 km) southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River and was moving slowly northeast at around 6 mph (9 kph) at 10 a.m. CDT (1500 GMT). The storm was expected to strengthen into a hurricane by Tuesday night, the Miami-based center said.
The NHC predicted that Debby will turn west and come ashore on the eastern Louisiana coast early Thursday (June 28) as a weak Category 1 hurricane. The NHC's prior forecast predicted that Debby would continue west toward the Texas coast.
Debby has already disrupted about 8 percent of Gulf offshore oil and natural gas production as energy companies evacuated workers from offshore platforms in the path of the storm.
That number could climb in coming days, with Debby expected to enter some of the most prolific production areas of the Gulf, home to 20 percent of U.S. oil production and 6 percent of natural gas output.