Meteorologists are red-faced.
Easterly and southeasterly winds back water into Galveston Bay like a stoppered bathtub, and waterfront communities are swamped. Damage is in the billions. The cost in human life is anybody's guess. Weather experts predict this year's Atlantic hurricane season will be average in intensity, said Frank Lepore, spokesman for the National Weather Service's Miami-based National Hurricane Center. The Weather Service calls for eight to 11 tropical storms with winds between 39 and 73 mph.