Erin hits Texas, while Dean is closing in on Caribbean islands by Corina Ciubotaru

It's been a very strange year for Texas. It rained like crazy all summer, ending the state's ten-year drought and now Erin is about to hit. Yet another girl-named weather phenomenon formed in the Atlantic on Tuesday and became a tropical storm on Wednesday after it reached the required sustained speed of 40 mph. It hit Copano Bay first then it reached Houston and calmed down a bit, bringing winds of 35 mph and rain that stopped traffic in the middle of the city. It had been too close to land to become a hurricane, luckily. Floods are expected all across Texas, especially in the Hill Country and the Corpus Christi area, which have so far received almost twice the rainfall they're used to. Other hurricanes are on their way, too. Dean became a genuine hurricane out in the Atlantic, with wind speeds of 90 mph and now threatens the Caribbean islands. Because of it, tropical storm warnings have been issued for the following islands: Dominica and St Lucia, Antigua, Barbados, Barbuda, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Monserrat, Nevis, St. Kitts and St. Maarten. A tropical storm warning means the storm is expected to hit in the next 24 hours. Tropical storm watches mean the storm is coming in 36 hours and they have been issued for Martinique, Guadeloupe and Grenada. Flossie swept through Hawaii, but with less force than expected. The hurricane season will go on until November 30th and may result in as many as 16 tropical storms.

related story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070815/ap_on_re_us/tropical_weather;_ylt=Ahg9XZcO1sM.HfewKHCFBbqs0NUE

by Corina Ciubotaru for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

PocketNews is a new real-time news broadcaster delivering the latest and hottest news right to your pocket ! With global clients who want to be kept up to date, PocketNews is everyone's way of keeping in touch with the World.

These news are original content from young talents around the world and are selected for you by Chris Cantell.

Edited by: Katarina Zerzanova