GALVESTON, Texas – Residents along the Texas and Louisiana coasts prepared Monday for Tropical Storm Edouard, which was rolling through the warm waters of the Gulf and threatening to reach near-hurricane strength before making landfall.

In Louisiana, Gov. Bobby Jindal declared a statewide emergency, and two communities in the western part of the state, Vermilion Parish and Cameron Parish, asked up to 6,000 residents to evacuate low-lying coastal areas that are prone to flooding. The storm was expected to hit Tuesday morning anywhere from western Louisiana to Port O’Connor, Texas.

For vacationers, the timing of the storm couldn’t be worse: The Texas coast banks on tourism at this time of year, with much of the state baking in 100-degree weather.

The storm also comes in the wake of Hurricane Dolly, which took aim at the resort community of South Padre Island on July 23.

“This is not the time of year for anyone along the Texas coast to be interrupted by these storms,” said Dan Quandt, executive director of the South Padre Island Convention and Visitors Bureau. “A lot of people come just to get out of the heat.”

Forecasters say Edouard is likely to hit west of Galveston, which is in the peak of its tourist season, when the city’s population of about 60,000 doubles. While the storm-seasoned town was watching the storm, no evacuations were ordered and local officials were merely urging caution.

“We are not telling anybody to leave,” said Galveston Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas. “We are asking citizens and our visitors to pay attention to the weather and use their own judgment as to whether to ride out the storm on the island, knowing there will be power outages during the night or tomorrow.”

Connie Porter, owner of Avenue O Bed and Breakfast in Galveston, said she planned to watch the progression of the storm on Monday, but wasn’t worried about it. She said a storm like the one being described might mean debris and that people should take care of patio furniture, but she didn’t anticipate much more.

“It’s not going to be a huge issue for anybody in this area,” Porter said.

As Edouard approached, a tropical storm warning was in effect from the mouth of the Mississippi River westward to Port O’Connor in Texas. A hurricane watch was in effect from west of Intracoastal City, La. to Port O’Connor.

Rudy Guidry of Grand Isle, on the Louisiana coast south of New Orleans, was on his father’s houseboat Monday making it more secure than usual. “We’re on the water right now. Just putting on extra lines in case it comes up,” he said.

At 2 p.m. EDT, Edouard had maximum sustained winds near 45 mph, with higher gusts. The storm’s center was located about 145 miles south-southeast of Lafayette, La., and 240 miles east-southeast of Galveston, Texas.

The storm was moving west-northwest near 8 mph, and forecasters said the warm waters of the Gulf provided the right conditions for the storm to intensify and approach hurricane strength with winds of 74 mph or more.