HOUSTON, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- Although Tropical Storm Nate is expected to make landfall as a hurricane late Saturday or early Sunday, Houston will not have severe weather or flooding, the U.S. National Weather Service (NWS) said Friday.
The storm will likely bring scattered showers and thunderstorms to the Houston area, said the NWS.
However, elevated tides along the Gulf Coast in southeast Texas caused by the storm may bring some coastal flooding, the agency said.
Tropical Storm Nate is expected to make landfall about 1:00 a.m. (0600 GMT) Sunday near the Louisiana-Mississippi border, said the forecast.
Some operators in the Gulf of Mexico are evacuating offshore facilities in preparation for the arrival of the storm.
The U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) estimated that 71 percent of U.S. gulf crude oil production and 53 percent of U.S. gulf natural gas production have been shut.
Personnel have been evacuated from 66 of the 737 manned production platforms in the gulf. Eleven of 18 dynamically positioned rigs have been moved off location and out of the storm's path as a precaution, according to the BSEE.
