'Rainmaker' Humberto begins to drench Texas coast

MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Tropical Storm Humberto began its soggy rendezvous with the upper Texas coast Wednesday evening, its rain bands sweeping in as the storm moved closer to landfall.

Humberto -- a slow mover -- is primarily going to be a rainmaker, CNN Meteorologist Chad Myers said.

"It will dump a lot of rain in one place, and it will move a little bit and dump a lot more rain and move a little bit," Myers said.

That was cause for concern for Texas Gov. Rick Perry.

"Some areas of our state remain saturated by summer floods, and many communities in this storm's projected path are at high risk of dangerous flash flooding," he said, according to The Associated Press.

The governor activated 50 military vehicles, several helicopters and two swift-water rescue teams to prepare for Humberto's arrival, the AP reported.

The storm could bring 5 to 10 inches of rain to the Texas coast, forecasters predicted, along with storm surges of 2 to 3 feet above normal tides near and to the east of where it comes ashore. Watch a meteorologist's report on Humberto »

Landfall was expected late Wednesday night or early Thursday.

Isolated tornadoes are possible overnight in southeastern Texas and southwestern Louisiana, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida.

The region has seen higher-than-normal rainfall throughout the summer, and Tropical Storm Erin dumped about 6 inches of rain on the Houston area after it hit near Corpus Christi in mid-August.

Flooding triggered by the heavy rain was blamed for at least one death.

At 8 p.m. ET, Humberto had top winds of 50 mph (80 kmh) and was centered about 35 miles (55 kilometers) south of Galveston, Texas, the hurricane center said.

The storm was moving north-northeast at 7 mph (11 kmh) over the warm waters of the Gulf. See Humberto's projected path »

The hurricane center posted tropical storm warnings from Port O'Connor, Texas, to Intracoastal City, Louisiana, meaning tropical storm conditions were expected within 24 hours.

Separately, the hurricane center said Tropical Depression Eight had formed in the Atlantic Ocean, about 1,130 miles (1,820 kilometers) east of the Lesser Antilles, and is likely to become a tropical storm Wednesday night or Thursday morning.

At 5 p.m. ET, the depression's winds were at about 35 mph, just short of the 39 mph needed to become a tropical storm.

If it becomes a named storm, it will be assigned the name Ingrid.

"It has a lot of time to get bigger," Myers said. E-mail to a friend

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