Texas Storm Erin Comes Ashore

By ELIZABETH WHITE

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Tropical Storm Erin made landfall Thursday morning and brought rain to the Texas Gulf Coast even as it was downgraded to a tropical depression.

Erin came ashore at Copano Bay, about 25 miles northeast of Corpus Christi.

Though the wind speed dropped to 35 mph, the storm was still expected to bring 3 to 6 inches of rain across much of central and southern Texas. Up to 10 inches of rain were forecast in some areas.

The storm did not keep customers away from the Bayside Express convenience store in Seadrift, a fishing town 60 miles northeast of Corpus Christi, said clerk Jamie Hartman.

"It’s just raining real hard and blowing real hard," she said Thursday morning. "There’s not really any flooding, but I’ve had some people tell me that saw some trees lifted up."

Erin formed late Tuesday as the fifth depression of the Atlantic hurricane season and was upgraded to a tropical storm Wednesday when its maximum sustained speed hit 40 mph. The threshold for tropical storm status is 39 mph.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (AP) – Tropical Storm Erin made landfall Thursday morning and brought rain to the Texas Gulf Coast, but with decreasing wind speed, it had weakened to a tropical depression.

Erin came ashore at Copano Bay, about 25 miles northeast of Corpus Christi.