Tropical Storm Fay stalls in Gulf of Mexico off the upper Texas coast, delivering wind and rain

<br>HOUSTON (AP) _ Tropical Storm Fay stalled over the Gulf of Mexico off the upper Texas coast Friday, bringing wind and some rain. <br><br>Although the storm had not reached land, a handful of school

Friday, September 6th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

HOUSTON (AP) _ Tropical Storm Fay stalled over the Gulf of Mexico off the upper Texas coast Friday, bringing wind and some rain.

Although the storm had not reached land, a handful of school districts were closed and evacuations were recommended for some Galveston-area residents.

``Basically, the rule of thumb is get out while you can,'' said John Simsen at the Galveston County Office of Emergency Management. ``Once you see water on the road, forget it. Turn around and go home.''

Forecasters from the National Hurricane Center said Fay was expected to move to the west or northwest, although one of their computer models suggested the storm could meander in the Gulf of Mexico for up to six days.

The system in the Gulf officially became a tropical depression at 4 p.m. Thursday and was upgraded to Tropical Storm Fay about six hours later as winds pushed above 39 mph and neared 60 mph.

At midmorning Friday, maximum sustained winds were near 40 mph, making it a minimal tropical storm. As much as 6 inches of rain was predicted when the storm hits land.

Fay is the first tropical storm to threaten Texas since June 2001, when remnants of Tropical Storm Allison dumped up to 3 feet of rain on the Houston area, killing 22 and causing an estimated $5 billion in damage.

Seven counties in a 100-mile stretch of the Texas coast were under tropical storm warnings. A tropical storm wind watch was posted through Saturday for inland counties.

Galveston County officials recommended evacuation for residents of the west end of the island about 50 miles southeast of Houston. Voluntary evacuations were suggested for the Bolivar Peninsula, across from Galveston, and Surfside Beach, southwest down the coast.