Edouard becomes 3rd storm to make landfall in US this year
Edouard moved ashore near Johnson Bayou, Louisiana, bringing flooding rain, storm surge, gusty winds and the risk of tornadoes.
Tropical Storm Edouard is just offshore from Holly Beach, Louisiana, as winds pick up and the threat of a 2- to 4-foot storm surge increases.
Tropical Storm Edouard made landfall near Johnson Bayou, Louisiana, on Tuesday afternoon after intensifying as it approached the Gulf Coast, bringing flooding rain, gusty winds and storm surge to southeastern Texas and southwestern Louisiana.
Edouard rapidly organized from a tropical rainstorm Sunday into a named storm Monday, putting coastal communities on alert for flooding and power outages. The storm strengthened in the hours leading up to landfall, with maximum sustained winds reaching 60 mph, with locally higher gusts.
Wind and rain seen near West Port Arthur, Texas, on Sept. 1, 2026, after Tropical Storm Edouard made landfall. (Image: Tony Laubach/AccuWeather)
Edouard is the third tropical storm to make landfall along this part of the Gulf Coast in 2026. Arthur was the first storm of the season and made landfall near Matagorda Bay, Texas, in mid-June. One month later, Tropical Storm Bertha made landfall east of New Orleans before drifting back over the Gulf, followed by a second landfall near the border of Texas and Louisiana.
Extreme Meteorologist Dr. Reed Timmer was in Holly Beach, Louisiana, Tuesday as rough Gulf waves moved toward the coast with the storm’s center just offshore.
Surfers try to catch a wave in surf stirred up by Tropical Storm Edouard in Galveston, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026. (Photo by Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)
“We’ve got shore-parallel winds out of the east, just north of the center of Tropical Storm Edouard,” Timmer said. “Once those winds shift to a southerly direction on the back side of the storm, that’s when the 2- to 4-foot storm surge is going to arrive.”
Water was beginning to inundate beaches near Cameron, Louisiana, around midday Tuesday. AccuWeather meteorologists forecast a storm surge of 3-6 feet along much of the upper Texas coast and southwestern Louisiana, with an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 8 feet.
Rain and winds increased in Port Arthur, Texas, as AccuWeather Meteorologist Tony Laubach tracked Tropical Storm Edouard ahead of its expected landfall Tuesday afternoon.
Emergency management officials warned motorists to stay off flooded roads in Port Arthur, where AccuWeather Meteorologist Tony Laubach watched conditions deteriorate as Edouard approached.
“I always compare tropical systems to a slow burn,” Laubach said. “It takes a little while, and then once you get closer to landfall, that’s when things really ramp up in a big way.”
Flooding danger to persist after landfall
TXDOT signs on I-610 as Tropical Storm Edouard makes landfall in Houston on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026. (Photo by Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)
A corridor of 2-8 inches of rain is forecast around Houston and the upper Texas coast through Wednesday, with 8-12 inches possible in a narrow area east of Houston.
Repeated downpours could overwhelm storm drains and flood roads, particularly in urban, low-lying and poorly drained areas. Isolated tornadoes and waterspouts are also possible in the storm’s eastern and northeastern quadrants through several hours after landfall.
Edouard is expected to weaken rapidly as it moves inland over southeastern Texas Wednesday, but tropical downpours could continue to cause localized flooding. Additional tropical moisture will keep showers and thunderstorms in the forecast along the Gulf coast later this week.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott activated the Texas Division of Emergency Management for around-the-clock operations and directed state agencies to prepare to assist communities with flooding, storm damage and power outages.
ERCOT, which manages most of the state’s electrical grid, was also anticipating elevated demand because of hot weather across eastern and southeastern Texas. State emergency resources remained engaged in wildfire response operations in several other parts of Texas.
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