Summary

Tropical Depression Hermine was a unique storm in that it formed as a result of the remnants of Tropical Depression number eleven in the Pacific crossing into the Southwest Gulf of Mexico on Sunday September 5, 2010. Hermine quickly gained strength becoming a strong tropical storm with winds of 60 mph in just 15 hours, and made landfall in northeast Mexico exactly 24 hours after it formed on Monday evening, September 6. The tropical storm then turned northward and moved quickly across south Texas into the Texas Hill Country on Tuesday September 7, bringing torrential rainfall, damaging winds and high tides.

The corridor of strongest winds spanned an area along the South Texas coast from near Brownsville to San Antonio. Wind gusts between 50 and 70 mph were reported along the track. Damage was confined primarily to trees, signs, and metal buildings. Hardest hit areas were the cities of Bishop and Orange Grove where the eyewall tracked directly overhead. The storm knocked out power to approximately 20,000 customers in the Coastal Bend.

The heaviest rains fell across the northeast Coastal Bend near Victoria and Seadrift where 4 to 8 inches were reported. Approximately 2 to 3 inches fell across the central Coastal Bend generally east of Highway 281.

Although a few tornado warnings were issued based on radar signatures, there were no confirmed tornadoes.

The strong winds and high surf caused tide levels to peak around 3.5 feet mean sea level along the barrier islands and near 3 feet mean sea level over the inland bays. This was about 2 feet above normal. The higher than normal tides resulted in minor flooding of area beaches, beach access roads and low areas around the inland bays.

Hermine continued tracking northward into north central Texas on Tuesday night and produced life threatening flash floods between Austin and Waco. A large swath of 10 to 15 inches of rain fell in those areas.

Overall, the Coastal Bend faired very well from this storm, but it serves as a reminder that storms can develop very quickly and that Coastal Bend residents should remain in a constant state of readiness, especially during the peak months of the Hurricane Season.