Lake Charles gearing up for Tropical Storm Beta

(21 Sep 2020) Parts of Texas and Louisiana braced Monday for flooding and damaging storm surge as Tropical Storm Beta slowly worked its way into a part of the country that's already been drenched and battered during this year's exceptionally busy hurricane season. The storm was no longer expected to gain hurricane strength and forecasters decreased estimated rainfall totals from Beta early Monday, saying in a U.S. National Hurricane Center advisory that up to 15 inches (38 centimeters) of rain could fall in some areas. That's down from earlier predictions of up to 20 inches (51 centimeters). Beta is forecast to dump heavy rain on the southwestern corner of Louisiana three weeks after the same area got pounded by Hurricane Laura. The city of Lake Charles, already grappling with the devastation caused by Hurricane Laura is gearing up for storm Beta. "First thing is, we want to caution anyone to not believe that just because something doesn't have the word hurricane in it, it cannot be substantial or can't cause some damage," Lake Charles mayor Nic Hunter said during an interview with the Associated Press on Monday. "We are recovering here in southwest Louisiana from the fifth strongest hurricane (Laura) ever to hit mainland United States of America. And, yes, it causes a lot of concern for us," Hunter said. Making landfall as a Category 4 storm, Laura's wind was nearly 130 mph in the Lake Charles area and thousands were without power. If Beta makes landfall in Texas, it would be the ninth named storm to make landfall in the continental U.S. in 2020. That would tie a record set in 1916, according to Colorado State hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...