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BULLETIN
Tropical Storm Beta Intermediate Advisory Number 19A
NWS National Hurricane Center Miami FL AL222020
700 AM CDT Tue Sep 22 2020

...BETA EXPECTED TO STALL INLAND OVER TEXAS TODAY...
...HEAVY RAINS CONTINUE OVER PORTIONS OF THE MIDDLE AND UPPER
TEXAS COAST...

SUMMARY OF 700 AM CDT...1200 UTC...INFORMATION
----------------------------------------------
LOCATION...28.8N 96.8W
ABOUT 10 MI...15 KM ESE OF VICTORIA TEXAS
ABOUT 35 MI...55 KM W OF PALACIOS TEXAS
MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS...40 MPH...65 KM/H
PRESENT MOVEMENT...NW OR 315 DEGREES AT 3 MPH...6 KM/H
MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE...999 MB...29.50 INCHES

WATCHES AND WARNINGS
--------------------
CHANGES WITH THIS ADVISORY:

None.

SUMMARY OF WATCHES AND WARNINGS IN EFFECT:

A Storm Surge Warning is in effect for...
* Sargent Texas to Sabine Pass including Galveston Bay

A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for...
* Port Aransas Texas to Sabine Pass

A Storm Surge Warning means there is a danger of life-threatening
inundation from rising water moving inland from the coastline in
the indicated locations. For a depiction of areas at risk, please
see the National Weather Service Storm Surge Watch/Warning Graphic,
available at hurricanes.gov. This is a life-threatening situation.
Persons located within these areas should take all necessary
actions to protect life and property from rising water and the
potential for other dangerous conditions. Promptly follow
evacuation and other instructions from local officials.

A Tropical Storm Warning means that tropical storm conditions are
expected somewhere within the warning area.

For storm information specific to your area, including possible
inland watches and warnings, please monitor products issued by your
local National Weather Service forecast office.

DISCUSSION AND OUTLOOK
----------------------
At 700 AM CDT (1200 UTC), the center of Tropical Storm Beta was
located by surface observations and NOAA Doppler radars near
latitude 28.8 North, longitude 96.8 West. Beta is moving toward
the northwest near 3 mph (6 km/h). Beta is expected to stall
inland over Texas today but will then begin to move slowly toward
the east-northeast tonight. An east-northeast to northeast motion
with increasing forward speed is expected Wednesday through Friday.
On the forecast track, the center of Beta will move inland over
southeastern Texas through Wednesday and then over Louisiana and
Mississippi Wednesday night through Friday.

Maximum sustained winds are near 40 mph (65 km/h) with higher
gusts. Beta is likely to begin weakening later today.

Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 105 miles (165 km)
from the center. A sustained wind of 39 mph (63 km/h) and a gust to
47 mph (76 km/h) was recently reported at Victoria, Texas.

The estimated minimum central pressure is 999 mb (29.50 inches).

HAZARDS AFFECTING LAND
----------------------
Key messages for Beta can be found in the Tropical Cyclone
Discussion under AWIPS header MIATCDAT2 and WMO header WTNT42 KNHC.

STORM SURGE: The combination of a dangerous storm surge and the
tide will cause normally dry areas near the coast to be flooded by
rising waters moving inland from the shoreline. The water could
reach the following heights above ground somewhere in the indicated
areas if the peak surge occurs at the time of high tide...

Sargent, TX to Sabine Pass including Galveston Bay...2-4 ft
Sabine Pass to Ocean Springs, MS including Sabine Lake, Calcasieu
Lake, Vermilion Bay, Lake Borgne, Lake Pontchartrain, and Lake
Maurepas...1-3 ft
Baffin Bay, TX to Sargent, TX including Copano Bay, Aransas Bay, San
Antonio Bay, Matagorda Bay, Corpus Christi Bay and Baffin Bay... 1-3
ft
Mouth of the Rio Grande to Baffin Bay, TX...1-2 ft

The deepest water will occur along the immediate coast in areas of
onshore winds, where the surge will be accompanied by large and
dangerous waves. Surge-related flooding depends on the relative
timing of the surge and the tidal cycle, and can vary greatly over
short distances. For information specific to your area, please see
products issued by your local National Weather Service forecast
office.

WIND: Tropical storm conditions are expected to continue within
portions of the tropical storm warning area today.

RAINFALL: For the middle and upper Texas coast, additional rainfall
of 6 to 12 inches with isolated storm totals up to 20 inches is
expected. Significant flash and urban flooding is occurring and will
continue today. Minor river flooding is likely.

Rainfall totals of 3 to 5 inches are expected northward into the
ArkLaTex region and east into the Lower Mississippi Valley through
the end of the week. Flash and urban flooding is possible, as well
as isolated minor river flooding.

TORNADOES: A tornado or two could occur today near the upper Texas
and southwestern Louisiana coasts.

SURF: Swells generated by a combination of Beta and a cold front
over the northern Gulf of Mexico will continue along the coasts of
Louisiana and Texas during the next couple of days. These swells
are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current
conditions. Please consult products from your local weather office.

NEXT ADVISORY
-------------
Next complete advisory at 1000 AM CDT.

$$
Forecaster Stewart

The Louisiana Office of Public Health reported 12 new COVID-19 cases and one St. Mary death in three local parishes for the 24 hours leading to midday Friday.

St. Mary has four new cases for a total of 1,865 since the pandemic began. The death reported Friday was the parish's 76th.

Three new cases raised St. Martin's total to 2,062.

Assumption's five new cases raised that parish's total to 740.

St. Martin's death toll remains at 60, Assumption's at 24.

Statewide:

--976 new cases give Louisiana a pandemic total of 160,283.

--29 deaths raised the toll to 5,172.

--16 fewer COVID-positive people are in hospitals for a total of 647.

--2 fewer people are on ventilators, lowering that total to 104.

Opening a business already is a large undertaking. Doing it through COVID-19 adds other challenges.
Despite the challenges of those who may not be as willing to spend their money during this time or to stay home more, judging by grand openings by the St. Mary Chamber of Commerce, it certainly hasn’t slowed entrepreneurs down.
“We are seeing that entrepreneurial spirit in the parish as a whole,” Chamber Chairman Jason Watson said. “You’re seeing it on both sides on the east and the west side of the parish. … Small businesses opening up, and that’s a beautiful thing for our economy to see that there is some hope and people willing to step out and to make a go of it. I definitely am encouraged by what we’re seeing at the chamber right now.”
Watson said that the versatility of people has been a spur for new businesses opening, whether it’s due to a job loss or looking for another outlet.
“I think that adaptability of our St. Mary community is why you’re seeing some startups and some other things that are a little different than maybe we saw three or even six months ago, so it’s encouraging to see some things,” Watson said.
Two of those businesses who have opened recently are Moe’s Poboys and Takeout in Morgan City and Magic Sparkle Detailing in Berwick.
Both Moe’s owner Monique Aucoin and Magic Sparkle owner John Warren said they already were deep into the opening process by the time the pandemic’s threat was elevated in March of this year.
Aucoin said she had been looking at her building to rent since November, and it was a situation of either rent the building she wanted or risk someone else renting it. Then, she had to open, because she needed to pay her expenses.
The business will be open five weeks as of Monday, and while things have been slower after a busier first week of operation, Aucoin wasn’t blind to the pulse of business in the area right now as she manages a nearby business.
“I think if the virus wasn’t here, I’d be a lot busier,” she said.
In fact, the pandemic even delayed the opening of her business after looking at the building in November.
“It took me from November to August to actually get everything set up with the health department, the fire marshal,” she said.
Across Berwick Bay in Berwick, Warren has operated his business since the beginning of May. He has previous experience working for others in the car detailing business.
While times haven’t always been easy, he said he has been fortunate to make it through.
“It’s not always good,” Warren said. “It’s not always bad, but it’s definitely not the way you would want it to be because of what’s going on.”
When the pandemic came, Warren said that people were at a distance, and don’t like to come out due to the threat of COVID-19.
While there may be challenges, Warren said he picked a great spot on California Street to wash cars, and he lauded the people of Berwick for their support.
“From my experience, Berwick is a beautiful place,” he said. “The people are nice.”
From a lending perspective during COVID-19, Watson, who also is president of Patterson State Bank, said banks should try to find ways to assist the community during the pandemic, even with an economy that already was tough before COVID-19 affected the area.
He said that spirit is something that Patterson State Bank always has tried to do.
Watson said tough times have made it more difficult for people to determine whether they need a loan right now.
“But we’re certainly here, and I know the other banks in the area are more than willing to work with customers to try to help through the economic times,” he said.

A federal appeals court should reverse a three-judge panel’s decision that lawsuits seeking to make oil and gas companies pay for alleged environmental damage belong in state court, several industry groups argued in briefs filed Tuesday.
Failing to do so could muddy the waters for future cases and undermine the “unique relationship” between the federal government and the oil industry, they said.
In 2013, some local governments in Louisiana’s coastal region filed lawsuits against more than 200 oil and gas companies, seeking compensation for damage they say the companies caused to the region’s wetlands. Most local governments on the coast did not file lawsuits.
Plaquemines Parish, one of the governments that did, in 2018 produced an expert report indicating at least some of the alleged damage dates back to World War II.
At that time, the companies say they were under strict wartime regulation and essentially were acting as officers of the federal government. That raises a federal issue, which means the cases should be heard in federal court, they say.
But a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit unanimously ruled that the companies failed to make their argument in time. They said the relevant evidence had been included in court records long before the 2018 report.
The companies contend that the older documents only referenced serial numbers for certain wells and didn’t identify when they were drilled. In a brief filed in support of the companies’ position, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers says that limited information doesn’t meet the court’s previously established standard of “unequivocally clear and certain” evidence for removal to federal court.
“In holding that Defendant-Appellants should have ascertained the basis for federal removal from a passing reference buried in an exhibit, the panel’s decision leaves future litigants to guess about the application of the longstanding ‘unequivocally clear and certain’ test in their cases and in the lurch as to whether they now have an obligation to investigate every possible stray reference to ascertain whether it might somehow allege facts which invoke federal jurisdiction,” the Chamber/NAM brief states.
In a separate brief, the American Petroleum Institute argues the ruling could undermine “the oil and gas industry’s indispensable partnership with the federal government during times of national crisis, such as World War II.”
“If allowed to stand, the Panel’s decision would significantly restrict the industry’s access to federal courts when compelled to act at the direction or control of the federal government, jeopardizes the ability of the industry and the federal government to cooperate in the event of future military or economic crises, and impacts the industry’s ability to operate with certainty and reliance on federal permits without collateral attacks from states and state agencies,” the API says.
The companies have asked both the same panel and the full court to revisit the decision. Karen Sokol, an associate professor at Loyola University New Orleans College of Law, said the panel is unlikely to reverse itself but the full court might, noting that the Fifth Circuit is a “really big court.”
“It is very rare that courts do that,” she said.
Sokol said corporate defendants generally prefer federal court, which they perceive as friendlier than state courts. She said removal to federal court might allow them to avoid having a full trial, noting the damage that civil discovery in court did to the reputations and finances of the tobacco industry.
Trial lawyers tend to prefer state court, where special interest groups are significant contributors in judicial elections, Lana Venable with Louisiana Lawsuit Abuse Watch counters. Judges are appointed to federal courts and do not have to raise money from special interest groups, such as trial attorneys, to run for office.