KHOU 11 team coverage of Francine's path as it moves through Gulf | Noon update

We begin with a check on the forecast as our weather team tracks tropical storm Francine. Good afternoon. I'm Shern Min Chow. We begin with a look from Brownsville, that area being soaked by rain as Francine grows stronger in the Gulf. There's some street flooding there right now. The storm is expected to largely spare the Texas coast and head towards Louisiana. A live look now along the Bolivar North Jetty thanks to our partners at salt water recon, the Galveston County judge declaring a voluntary evacuation from the Bolivar Peninsula this because of the storm surge risk. And here is what the National Hurricane Center director, Mike Brennan is saying about this storm. It's sort of a close call for much of the Texas coast of bigger impacts, especially east of Houston. When you get over to Port Arthur Beaumont to Sabine Pass, we actually have a tropical storm warning in effect there and we could see some, you know storm surge inundation, even Galveston Bay 1 to 3 ft above ground level, some coastal flooding there. We do have team coverage following center points, preparation for the storm and details on how Galveston is getting ready. But first meteorologist Kim Castro watching the storm with the latest updates, Kim. Hey Sherman. I want to talk about the Houston impacts. First. We know the majority of the forest of Francine is headed to our east, but we're still expecting to see plenty of showers along our coastline, elevated tides, storm surge threat and erosion. I want you to watch for updates. We just got one at 10 in the morning and a couple of things to note. First, Francine has taken that north northeast turn at eight miles an hour. So it is headed to the Louisiana coastline, but it's slowed down in its timing and some of its intensity. Now instead of making a category two landfall, the hurricane center is forecasting a strong cat one hurricane upon landfall. And now instead of a one o'clock time frame for Wednesday, it's looking more like Wednesday evening when that eye will cross over into Louisiana, we're getting the ricochet impacts from Francine already along our coastline. Here's a live look at Pleasure Pier. You'll notice waves are starting to raise, the palm trees are starting to sway winds. Today is going to be at 20 to 30 miles an hour. Those wave heights like you heard the director for the National Hurricane Center say 1 to 3 ft along our coastline, which is why we are under that tropical storm watch. Notice a hurricane watch further uh towards Louisiana for the waves getting up to 5 to 10 ft. Here's a live look at radar imagery of Francine. You'll notice the majority of the convection on the right side of the dirty side and following its counterclockwise flow, the clean side is exactly that clear. Why is that? I'll be back to explain the logistics behind the clean and the dirty side of a hurricane when I see you back here in a couple of minutes, Sherman. All right, we will see you then. Thanks Kim. And now a live look from several of our cameras down in Galveston County. This courtesy of our partners at Salt Water recon. As we mentioned, there is a voluntary evacuation order on Bolivar Peninsula. Our Maria Aguilera just spoke with the Galveston County judge within the past hour. Maria, what did he have to say Sherman? That voluntary evacuation order issued just a short time ago. Emergency officials here. Tell me they are expecting higher than normal tides and storm surge, especially along state highway 87. We're told the impacts are going to be similar to Alberto a few months ago, but less than barrel. Now, here at this office, along with the Galveston County Office of Emergency Management, the National Weather Service has an office here as well and they're closely monitoring the storm and providing updates the last one just an hour ago where they told us it's looking favorable for our area. Yet we can still expect to see some impacts along our coast, especially on the Bolivar Peninsula where highway 87 is at sea level. We have seen these similar conditions in the past. Do two things shut down ferry service temporarily and cause water to come. Over 87 we still believe both of those things are not only possible but likely. So we issued a voluntary evacuation through eight pm. Tomorrow, County Judge Mark Henry says that voluntary evacuation will likely end early tomorrow if Francine continues to move east. This order is important for those who may have health issues in life saving equipment that needs power which would make it difficult for first responders to get to the peninsula. Now, we all are told that long enforcement officers are heading down there tonight and staying the night to make sure that residents stay safe and to watch the properties of those who may be evacuating. Now again, we will have more updates later today as they become available for now. You 11 news. Thank you Maria. And this afternoon Center Point Energy is working to recover, uh still working to recover from the hit it took in barrel is now preparing for Francine if it makes a last minute turn for the Texas coast. Ogoe Ilo is sharing the weather preps. A Centerpoint Energy spokesperson says that they have had thousands of linemen working since this weekend ahead of the storm. The company is hoping to learn from their mistakes after Barrel and do a better job. This go around. We heard the calls to action loud and clear in the aftermath of Beryl. We know that, you know, these things can be can shift in a moment's notice and being unprepared is certainly not an option. One of the biggest changes the company says they've enacted since Hurricane Barrel involves the installation of hundreds of trip savers. Those are devices that can energize power lines quicker after an outage without the need of linemen in preparation for francine. The company says more than 1300 vegetation management workers are activated with 700 already here from out of town down trees on power lines were a major cause of widespread power outages during barrel. And centerpoint says in the last eight weeks, they've trimmed trees along more than 2000 miles of power lines. Since then, a company VP tells us they've got a lot to prove. We're ready to show everybody that we have improved and we certainly understand the service that we provide. Point says they already have 1800 local linemen ready to go and they've requested an additional 1600 just in case we're already headed to our area. Now, in the meantime, the company says they want you to keep up to date and follow their center point outage tracker in the coming days. Ugochi, Iloka Khou 11 news. Thank you, Ugochi. And as always be sure you have downloaded our free Kou 11 mobile app to follow the forecast, get updates on Francine sent straight to your phone. It is a weather impact day.