Catastrophic flooding after Imelda unloads 3 feet of rain in Texas
By Kevin Byrne, AccuWeather staff writer
More than 3 inches of rainfall per hour overwhelmed the drainage system across roads in Baytown, Texas, on Sept. 18, flooding streets and stranding motorists.
Catastrophic flooding from stalled Tropical Rainstorm Imelda endangered communities across southeastern Texas on Thursday as the system dumped more than 3 feet of rain in places, bringing back unwanted memories of Hurricane Harvey in 2017. And forecasters say final rainfall totals could challenge the record amounts left by Harvey two years ago.
First responders initiated water rescues during the overnight hours Thursday in cities such as Beaumont, Vidor and Winnie, Texas, and those continued through the morning as the staggering rainfall totals continued to rise.
A look at Imelda's rainfall accumulations through 12:40 p.m. CDT Thursday, Sept. 19, 2019.
Authorities urged residents to shelter in place and seek higher ground if possible.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott declared a state of disaster for 13 counties that were experiencing the flooding.
“The State of Texas is working closely with local officials and emergency personnel to provide the resources they need to keep Texans safe from Tropical Storm Imelda,” Abbott said in a statement. “I thank our first responders who are acting swiftly to help the communities that are facing this severe weather event. I urge all those in the path of this storm to take the necessary precautions and heed all warnings from local officials.”
Already some locations have been inundated by feet of rain, in what officials have called a "life-threatening situation." The highest rainfall report through 12 p.m. local time Thursday was a 72-hour rainfall total of 42.68 inches near Hamshire, Texas, about 65 miles east of Houston. Texas Greens Bayou, northeast of Houston, recorded 9.68 inches in 3 hours during the middle of the day Thursday.
AccuWeather meteorologists are projecting an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 55 inches.
While Houston initially avoided the heaviest rainfall from Imelda, heavier bands of rain began shifting southward over the city as of late Thursday morning, and Bayous were rising rapidly, according to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski.
On Thursday afternoon, a very heavy rain band east of Houston continued to drop copious rainfall amounts of 3 to 4 inches per hour, adding to the significant and even major flooding that is ongoing, forecasters said.
Imelda first came to life on Tuesday as a depression before it rapidly grew into a short-lived tropical storm.
Following landfall in Freeport, Texas, the storm crept inland and began to trigger a deluge that is now in its second day. Forecasters say the threats of flooding and isolated tornadoes will persist into Thursday night.
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