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Originating over the southwest Caribbean sea on September 4, Tropical Storm Frances became the...

Originating over the southwest Caribbean sea on September 4, Tropical Storm Frances became the sixth tropical storm of the 1998 Atlantic hurricane season. The cyclone moved northward through the western Gulf of Mexico, making landfall across the central Texas coastline before recurving across the Midwest through southeast Canada and New England. A large tropical cyclone for the Atlantic Basin, yet an average sized system by western Pacific standards, the storm produced heavy rains across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Texas, western Louisiana and the Great Plains. Coastal flooding overran the coasts of Louisiana and Texas, which worsened river flooding across the region. Federal disaster declarations were made for the states of Louisiana and Texas on September 23 for damage relating to this tropical cyclone. Damage totaled US$500 million (1998 dollars), mainly from flooding. There was one direct death and one indirect death associated with the tropical storm. Frances was the second tropical cyclone to hit Texas during the 1998 season, with Charley being the other. A broad area of low pressure formed in the southwest Caribbean on September 4. It moved to the northwest and slowly