Chantal Lashes Gulf Coast of Texas : Thousands Flee Hurricane; Search for Oil Rig Crew Halted

Chantal, the Atlantic season’s first hurricane, lashed the Gulf Coast today with heavy rain and wind up to 80 m.p.h., forcing thousands to flee inland and frustrating the search for 10 men from a capsized oil rig.

Ten people were plucked by Coast Guard helicopter from two sinking shrimp boats in the Gulf of Mexico, and a pump was flown through the storm to a fishing boat taking on water 50 miles off Galveston, the Coast Guard said.

On Monday, one man was lost from an oil rig off Grand Isle, La., as the storm moved in.

Barely Qualifies as Hurricane

Chantal ripped off roofs, toppled power lines and sent barrels rolling down streets after moving ashore about 8:15 a.m. near High Island, midway between Galveston and Port Arthur, with winds that just barely qualified as a hurricane.

The hurricane weakened inland and was downgraded to a tropical storm at 10:45 a.m. when the top wind speed dropped to 75 m.p.h.

“We had heavy rain with real hard wind. It’s doing a lot of wind damage,” said Robert Isaacks, an emergency medical technician on High Island.

Tornadoes were likely in Louisiana and Texas, and at least one possible twister was spotted, forecasters said.

Shrimp Boat Rescue

The Coast Guard rescued seven people from a sinking shrimp boat near the Sabine Pass station, said station chief Kenneth Compton. “It was amazing. Flying in 60-knot winds, they hoisted five people on one (helicopter),” Compton said. “Another helo searched the area, and they found the other two.”

Three people were rescued from another shrimp boat in the Gulf, the Coast Guard said.

Ten oil workers were missing off Morgan City, La., after their rig capsized while heading inland Monday to escape the storm. Swells up to 25 feet forced the Coast Guard to call off the search Monday afternoon. Four other workers from the rig were rescued.

Coastal Louisiana and Texas received five inches or more of rain Monday and could receive 10 to 15 inches in the next two days, the National Weather Service said. Tides along the upper Texas coast were at 10 feet above normal in places.

At Galveston, 1,000 people were evacuated from an area of the city unprotected by a seawall. But many coastal residents waited out the storm.

“We get worse thunderstorms than this,” said Betty Barrow, a 28-year resident who remained on High Island. “People are always casual about these things here. The old-timers don’t worry about these things; they just stay.”