Dealers across northern Gulf Coast brace for second storm as Marco weakens

Automotive retailers along the northern Gulf Coast in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama were preparing their dealerships for severe weather Monday. While Tropical Storm Marco has weakened, all eyes remain on Laura, which was upgraded to a hurricane Tuesday.

Dealer associations in the affected states said that several members opted to close their doors Monday.

Mississippi dealer Bobby Dalgo closed his Crown Dodge-Chrysler-Jeep-Ram-Fiat store Monday afternoon to allow his employees to prepare their homes for the storms.

Marty Milstead, president of the Mississippi Automobile Dealers Association, said it was important for his members to "forget the cars and turn to the human element."

To the west, Louisiana dealers are "hoping for the best but expecting the worst," Will Green, president of the Louisiana Automobile Dealers Association, told Automotive News.

"It's one of the realities of southern Louisiana — you have to be good at hurricane preparedness."

Green said that as of Monday night, dealers had not moved inventory or boarded windows, but dealers located in low-lying areas of Louisiana do have inventory-evacuation plans in place.

The National Hurricane Center changed the status of Tropical Storm Laura to a Category 1 hurricane Tuesday morning as it had sustained 70 mph winds and moved toward the west-northwest at nearly 20 mph.

The storm is forecast to approach the northwestern coast of the Gulf of Mexico as a Category 3 storm, according to the Weather Channel.

Watches and warnings for Laura include storm surges from Texas to Mississippi, a hurricane watch from Bolivar, Texas, to Morgan City, La., and tropical storm warnings along Cuban provinces as of Tuesday.

"From Wednesday afternoon into Saturday, Laura is expected to produce rainfall of 4 to 8 inches, with isolated maximum amounts of 12 inches across portions of the west-central U.S. Gulf Coast near the Texas and Louisiana border north into portions of the lower Mississippi Valley," a public advisory from the National Hurricane Center said.

Hurricane Laura follows Tropical Storm Marco, which sustained 30 mph winds overnight and is moving toward the west off the coast of Louisiana.

Marco's status was dropped to a remnant low early Tuesday and storm surge warnings were lifted.

"Additional weakening is expected, and post-tropical cyclone Marco is forecast to dissipate by early Wednesday, if not sooner," according to a public advisory on the storm.

Dealers on the coasts of Alabama and Mississippi prepared for Marco but were mostly spared as the storm lost its strength overnight.

Milstead said that although some of his board members closed their dealerships on Monday, Mississippi dealers experienced little impact from Marco.

Alabama auto dealers prepared for heavy rainfall from the tropical storms, but the president of the Automobile Dealers Association of Alabama, Tom Dart, said "they will be OK on Laura unless it changes paths."

Green said with warnings and watches changing every few hours in Louisiana, "We're just watching and anxiously waiting to see if and when these storms hit."