Tropical Depression Hermine was a unique storm in that it formed as a result of the remnants of Tropical Depression number eleven in the Pacific crossing into the Southwest Gulf of Mexico on Sunday September 5, 2010. Hermine quickly gained strength becoming a strong tropical storm with winds of 60 mph in just 15 hours, and made landfall in northeast Mexico exactly 24 hours after it formed on Monday evening, September 6. The tropical storm then turned northward and moved quickly across south Texas into the Texas Hill Country on Tuesday September 7, bringing torrential rainfall, damaging winds and high tides.
The corridor of strongest winds spanned an area along the South Texas coast from near Brownsville to San Antonio. Wind gusts between 50 and 70 mph were reported along the track. Damage was confined primarily to trees, signs, and metal buildings. Hardest hit areas were the cities of Bishop and Orange Grove where the eyewall tracked directly overhead. The storm knocked out power to approximately 20,000 customers in the Coastal Bend.
The heaviest rains fell across the northeast Coastal Bend near Victoria and Seadrift where 4 to 8 inches were reported. Approximately 2 to 3 inches fell across the central Coastal Bend generally east of Highway 281.
Although a few tornado warnings were issued based on radar signatures, there were no confirmed tornadoes.
The strong winds and high surf caused tide levels to peak around 3.5 feet mean sea level along the barrier islands and near 3 feet mean sea level over the inland bays. This was about 2 feet above normal. The higher than normal tides resulted in minor flooding of area beaches, beach access roads and low areas around the inland bays.
A portion of the Coastal Bend area's cotton production had not been harvested yet. Damages to the cotton crop yield occurred in Jim Wells and Nueces Counties. The potential monetary loss was in the millions of dollars. A majority of the area's sesame crop was damaged by the heavy rain and wind.