NEW ORLEANS--Tropical Storm Gordon hurled rough surf, high winds and heavy rain at the U.S. Gulf Coast on Tuesday, strengthening as it spun toward the northern U.S. Gulf Coast, potentially to make landfall as a hurricane.
Gordon was forecast to come ashore between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. local time on Tuesday along the Mississippi Gulf coast near the Louisiana state line as a Category 1 hurricane on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale. Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards declared a state of emergency and companies cut 9 percent of U.S. Gulf of Mexico oil and gas production.
"I’m asking all residents to do their part in getting ready for this storm," New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell said in a statement. "The city’s absolute No.1 priority is to ensure the safety of our residents."
Winds of about 70 miles per hour (113 km per hour) were expected to reach hurricane force of at least 74 mph (119 kph) by the time storm reaches the Gulf Coast and some areas still recovering from last year's storms could see 12 inches (30 cm) of rain. Beaches around Mobile, Alabama, were being washed by storm-driven waves on Tuesday morning, said Stephen Miller, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service.
"We're expecting an increase in winds," Miller said in a telephone interview. "We could see flooding."
The storm was producing gusty winds and heavy rain along the coast of the western Florida Panhandle and along the Texas coast, the National Hurricane Center said in an afternoon advisory. Sea levels could rise as much as 5 feet (1.5 m) from Shell Beach, Louisiana, to Dauphin Island, Alabama, forecasters said.
The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency told South Mississippi residents to be prepared to evacuate.
