Tropical Storm Cindy continues to approach the Gulf Coast and is expected to make landfall early Thursday morning along the border of Texas and Louisiana.
The storm, which has been impacting Gulf Coast states with heavy rain since early in the week, will continue to be threatening with severe weather, life-threatening flooding and rip currents from Texas to Florida into Thursday.
Emergency officials throughout the South have already begun readying swift-water rescue teams and enacting other precautions to make sure communities have the proper assistance.
The threats of high tides, rip currents and coastal flooding have prompted the Padre Island National Seashore in Corpus Christi, Texas, to close its beaches to drivers and swimmers.
Red Cross volunteers, supplies and shelters will be in place in Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Florida, Tennessee and Georgia as Cindy approaches land.
WKRG-TV in Mobile, Alabama, has reported that a 10-year-old boy is the first fatality related to Tropical Storm Cindy.
According to the Baldwin County Sheriff's Office, the child died after being struck by a log that was washed in by storm surge.
Chuck Tonini, a 911 operator, tweeted that strong winds forced an object to fall on top of the boy.
Tonini also wrote on Twitter that emergency responders are currently at the scene.
Bloomberg has reported that vessel offloading services at the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port in the Gulf of Mexico are on hold due to Tropical Storm Cindy’s impacts.
The storm has also impacted evacuations at oil rigs and platforms.
Cindy has also triggered warnings at Galveston Bay, which is where the only active liquefied natural gas export terminal in the lower 48 states is located, according to Bloomberg.
Ahead of making landfall, Tropical Storm Cindy’s downpours over southern Mississippi have prompted officials to close off flooded roads to the public.
According to the National Weather Service (NWS) in New Orleans, the Mississippi coast will be drenched with up to 6 inches of rain on Wednesday.
At 11:05 a.m. CDT Wednesday, the Mississippi Department of Transportation tweeted an update to current road closures.
AccuWeather extreme meteorologist Reed Timmer posted this time-lapse video of storm clouds approaching the southern Louisiana coast near the town of Waveland shortly after 10 a.m. CDT Wednesday.
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards issued a statewide state of emergency declaration Wednesday morning as preparations for severe flooding were underway.
“All arms of the state’s emergency preparedness and response apparatus are taking Tropical Storm Cindy seriously, and we are calling on all Louisianans throughout the state to do so as well,” said Edwards.
The city of Sulphur, Louisiana, announced that offices would be closed at noon CDT on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey also declared a statewide state of emergency.
There have been multiple reports of tornadoes and waterspouts along the Mississippi coast throughout Wednesday morning.
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