Tropical Storm Edouard moving over east Texas after making landfall along northwestern Gulf Coast

FORT MYERS, Fla. —

Tropical Storm Edouard is moving inland over areas of Texas.

As of 8 p.m. Tuesday, the National Hurricane Center says Tropical Storm Edouard is producing maximum sustained winds of 45 mph as it moves toward the northwest at 7 mph.

Edouard made landfall at 2:20 p.m. Tuesday afternoon near Johnson Bayou, LA. Around the time the storm was making landfall, wind gusts of 71 mph were reported in Texas Point, Texas. A 52 mph sustained wind was observed at Calcasieu Pass, Louisiana.

Tropical Storm Edouard will continue pushing northwest through Texas and weaken as it moves away from the warm waters of the Gulf.

Edouard has threatened communities that can’t seem to catch a break this hurricane season. Earlier this hurricane season, Tropical Storm Arthur and Tropical Storm Bertha brought numerous tropical threats to the northwestern Gulf Coast.

The storm is expected to bring 3 to 6 inches of rain, with isolated pockets up to 9 inches, in portions of Southeast Texas.

The Associated Press reports that Edouard unleashed heavy rain and strong winds on southeastern Texas Tuesday, knocking out power to thousands, toppling trees and flooding roads.

Storm makes landfall along Texas-Louisiana border

As the center of the storm passed over Beaumont, Texas, about 80 miles (130 kilometers) northeast of Houston, the city’s offices were shuttered and the Texas Office of Emergency Management warned residents to stay off the road.

Throughout the city were downed trees blocking roads, traffic signals that weren’t working and flooded underpasses, Beaumont Police said in a post on social media.

About 42,000 utility customers were without electricity in Jefferson County, which includes Beaumont, according to poweroutage.com.

Mike Gilbert decided ahead of the storm to close his surf shop on Texas’ Crystal Beach because he didn’t want to risk his employees having a difficult time getting home. But, he said, it had ended up just being gray skies and drizzly rain there Tuesday as Edouard made landfall about 60 miles (96 kilometers) northeast of his shop.

“You literally never know,” Gilbert said. “It could have all of a sudden moved over 50 miles and picked up 20 mph in wind and it could have been a whole different story.”

In Cameron, Louisiana, the winds had picked up by Tuesday morning and rain was coming through on and off, said Connor Salvador, who owns an RV park there near the coast. He said while there could be a “little bit” of flooding if they get a lot of rain, he wasn’t too worried about Edouard.

“We’re pretty used to all these types of storms that come through,” he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.