1 killed as storm makes landfall

But by Wednesday morning, the storm’s winds were weakening, blowing at a maximum sustained speed of 50 mph — 20 mph below the meteorological threshold for a hurricane, the National Hurricane Center said.

Still, the storm proved deadly: A tree fell on a mobile home in West Pensacola, Florida, and killed a young child on Tuesday night, a spokeswoman for the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office said.

The hurricane center warned of possible tornadoes Tuesday night near the coasts of Mississippi and Alabama and the Florida Panhandle. The tropical storm was expected to produce 4 to 8 inches of rain along the coast, and some areas could receive 12 inches of rain through Thursday, causing flash flooding.

“Residents in these areas should listen to advice from their local officials,” the hurricane center said in one of its forecast discussions Tuesday. “All preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion, as tropical storm conditions are expected to arrive in the warning areas this afternoon.”

That advice — in language familiar to people living along the Gulf — came as state and local authorities braced for a storm whose primary threats appeared to be heavy rainfall and a storm surge, more than wind damage. Some areas of the coast could receive a foot of rain, forecasters said, and officials warned of the threat of flooding.

— Preparing, but Not Panicking, Along the Coast

Although Gordon was not expected to cause anything approaching the catastrophic destruction of 2017’s major hurricanes, the governors of Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi all declared states of emergency and were urging residents not to take the storm lightly.

“Alabama is postured for a coastal wind and water event, but the key will be preparation of our citizens,” said Brian Hastings, the director of the Alabama Emergency Management Agency. “If you live in the coastal counties, especially in surge- and flood-prone areas, it is imperative that you get to a safe place by early afternoon and stay there through Wednesday morning.”

Many schools closed Tuesday morning, and some districts announced that their classrooms would also be empty Wednesday. The Mississippi Gaming Commission ordered coastal casinos to close, and authorities imposed curfews in some places.

The city of Biloxi, Mississippi, ordered its harbors and marinas evacuated, affecting about 300 vessels. But local leaders were plainly trying to avoid prompting any wide panic.

“We’re asking people to do the same things that we’re doing: Prepare,” Mayor Andrew Gilich said in a statement. “There’s no reason to be alarmed. We’re being told to expect rain and wind, and we’re preparing accordingly. We expected our citizens to be doing the same.”

— It Could Have Been a Lot Worse

Two things kept Gordon from gaining more strength, according to Michael Brennan, chief of the National Hurricane Center’s hurricane specialist unit. There was plenty of dry air over the Gulf, he said, as well as wind shear, meaning winds that were blowing one way at one altitude and a different direction or speed at another. Dry air tends to suppress the warm updrafts that are characteristic of hurricanes, and wind shear can disrupt the storm’s structure.

“It’s over very warm water,” Brennan said about Gordon. “If it was in an environment where there wasn’t wind shear, it would have strengthened more than it has.

— New Orleans Watches Warily

Although New Orleans, the economic and cultural center of the coast, was not expected to suffer a direct strike, the city’s new mayor, LaToya Cantrell, issued an emergency declaration and a voluntary evacuation order for certain neighborhoods. A handful of Louisiana parishes handed out sandbags to residents.

New Orleans has struggled with drainage issues, but the city’s Sewerage and Water Board said this week that it was prepared for this storm. Almost all of the city’s drainage pumps were available, authorities said, and the drainage system was ready to self-generate more electricity to run the pumps than it had been able to do for at least a decade.

The storm would also be a test for a new city official. Tuesday was the first formal day on the job for Ghassan Korban, who was recently named executive director of the Sewerage and Water Board; he was formerly the public works commissioner in Milwaukee, where snowstorms are a more frequent problem than tropical cyclones.

— The Coast Has Faced Other Hurricanes Since Harvey

The Gulf Coast most recently contended with a hurricane in October, when Nate made landfall at the mouth of the Mississippi River as a Category 1 storm. That storm had already caused substantial destruction and dozens of deaths in Central America, but its effect in the United States was less severe: $225 million in damage and two deaths.

In May, the first named Atlantic storm of 2018, Alberto, made landfall near Laguna Beach, Florida, just northwest of Panama City. The storm’s heavy rains caused flooding and mudslides across the South, including in North Carolina, where two television journalists were killed when a tree struck their vehicle.

— A More Muted Hurricane Season After 2017’s Terrors

September is often the peak of hurricane season, but so far, at least, there are signs that the 2018 season will not be as deadly or expensive as last year's. In 2017, three immense storms — Harvey, Irma and Maria — assaulted the United States with heavy winds and rains.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration lowered its forecast for the Atlantic hurricane season last month and said it now expected no more than 13 named storms for the year. In May, forecasters were anticipating as many as 16 named storms. Officially, the Atlantic hurricane season runs from June through November.

— Other Dangers in the Atlantic — but None Are Imminent

The third tropical storm to reach hurricane strength in the Atlantic this season was the one ahead of Gordon, named Florence. But it has not strayed anywhere near the North American mainland. On Tuesday morning it was almost 1,300 miles east-northeast of the Lesser Antilles and was not expected to be a threat in the next five days.

There is also a “tropical wave” — the seed of a potential hurricane — off the western coast of Africa, where Atlantic storms tend to get their start. Forecasters believe it will strengthen to the next level, a tropical depression, in a few days. If it develops into a named storm, it will be called Helene.

The National Hurricane Center regularly posts updates, including maps with the projected paths of storms and details about watches and warnings, on its website.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.