Tropical Storm Cindy tickled Orange County on Thursday. Instead of winds up to 50 miles per hour and inches of rain, the county mainly got breezes and at most, three inches of rain. No problems and only a handful of small outages were reported to authorities.
The National Hurricane Center reported the center circulation of the storm, which did not have a hurricane-type eye, passed over the Orange County-Calcasieu Parish area along the Sabine River.
As of Thursday evening, the National Weather Service was predicting only minor flooding of the Sabine River in Deweyville for the weekend, though a flood warning has been issued. The river there was at 20.6 feet at 5 p.m. Thursday, with flood level at 24 feet. The forecast high is 24.7 feet.
Most of the rain in Orange County came late Wednesday afternoon and through the night. The Sabine River Authority gauge on Pier Road had an inch and a half of rain. A private rain gauge in the Mauriceville area had about two and three-quarters of an inch.
During Wednesday night into early Thursday morning, the Orange County Airport registered 15 miles per hour sustained winds with gusts up to 30 miles per hour.
The strongest winds blew through beginning about noon Thursday as the back end passed over the county. The airport then recorded sustained winds of 15 to 22 miles per hour with gusts from 25 to 32 miles per hour.
The Sabine River at Pier Road Thursday afternoon was at 2.73 feet, with 4 feet flood level. The river there is not expected to reach flood level.
The county has released the following statement:
The Orange County Emergency Operations Center returned to normal operations today at 8 AM. The Emergency Management Coordinator will remain on call in case of further developments. We urge citizens to remain cautious of flooding in low areas of the county.
As a reminder, the Orange County Courthouse and all Orange County Offices will re-open for normal hours on Friday, June 23. However, Orange County Parks will be closed to the public until Monday. As always, the Orange County Jail and Sheriff’s Department will maintain their daily operations.
The Orange County Judge, Sheriff, Emergency Operations Center Staff, and Sheriff’s Department want to thank our citizens for their cooperation during this event. Orange County is blessed to not have received the severe weather that was experienced east of us.
Although Tropical Storm Cindy was thankfully not as significant for Orange County as anticipated by weather professionals, the actions of local and state officials should give the citizens confidence we are prepared for more significant events in the future.
Social Media