Hurricane watch issued for Texas as Edouard approaches

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The National Hurricane Center has issued a hurricane watch for the coast of western Louisiana and eastern Texas.

The watch issued Sunday night means that hurricane conditions are possible from Tropical Storm Edouard within the next 24 hours from Intracoastal City to Port O’Connor, Texas.

The fifth named storm of the 2008 hurricane season has sustained maximum winds of about 50 miles per hour.

At 10 p.m. CDT, Edouard was located about 80 miles east-southeast off the mouth of the Mississippi River and about 390 miles east of Galveston, Texas.

It was moving west at 5 mph and was expected to strengthen before making landfall Tuesday morning in Texas.

Krista Piferrer, a spokeswoman for Texas Gov. Rick Perry, said Sunday that state emergency management officials were getting updates through conference calls with the National Weather Service.

“Because it might make an impact to the Texas shore, we’re looking at activating resources, including search and rescue and maybe military forces,” including the Texas National Guard, Piferrer said.