Tropical Depression Imelda Hits Houston Area With Heavy Rain and Threatens to Bring More

Tropical Depression Imelda churned over the Houston area on Wednesday, soaking some areas with more than 10 inches of rain and bringing the threat of heavy rainfall and a flood watch to Southeast Texas.

The storm, which was slowly making its way through the eastern Texas region, was expected to bring rainfall of five to 10 inches through Friday, and could deliver 20 to 25 inches to some places, according to the National Hurricane Center. Parts of southwest Louisiana could see four to 8 inches of rain, with isolated totals of 10 inches. The rainfall could result in “significant to life-threatening flash floods,” the center said.

Much of the rain is currently off the coast of Texas, in the Gulf of Mexico and coming up through East Texas, Scott Overpeck, meteorologist for the National Weather Service’s Houston/Galveston office, said Wednesday morning.

“Right now, Houston’s not seeing a lot of the heavy rainfall that it could be seeing,” he said in an interview. “Through the day we could have light to moderate rain, but higher rainfall amounts may hold off till overnight as the system moves north.”

Jeff Lindner, director of the Flood Control District for Harris County, said Wednesday morning that the residents should stay apprised as the storm keeps moving north.

“Takeaway message this morning is we’re about 24 hours or halfway through this 48-hour event,” he said. “Even though we’ve done well overnight, we haven’t had any significant amounts of flooding or impacts — we can’t let our guard down just yet.”

The National Weather Service’s Houston/Galveston office said online early Wednesday morning that in preliminary precipitation totals, Brazoria County had received more than 10 inches of rain while parts of Galveston County had gotten eight to nine inches. A flood watch continued for parts of Southeast Texas through Thursday morning, it said.

The storm, which was moving at five to 10 miles per hour after making landfall near Freeport, Texas, on Tuesday evening, was about 75 miles north of Houston and should continue to move north, Mr. Overpeck said. It should continue to affect the Houston area for the next 12 to 24 hours, he said.

Several school districts canceled classes while universities in the area delayed opening.

The Galveston Independent School District and the Texas City Independent School District canceled classes on Wednesday. Several other districts across the Houston area issued closing announcements including Brazosport Independent School District, Dayton Independent School District and Alvin Independent School District.

Texas Southern University and the University of Houston chose to delay classes until 10 a.m.

The area is still recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Harvey, which lingered over the city as a tropical storm in August 2017. Heavy rain, high winds and tornadoes leveled entire neighborhoods.

Hundreds of miles to the east, Humberto became a Category 3 hurricane and was expected to wallop Bermuda on Wednesday with heavy winds, according to the National Hurricane Center.

“A prolonged period of dangerous winds is expected on Bermuda from late this afternoon through Thursday morning, with hurricane-force winds expected overnight tonight,” the hurricane center said. “Preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion.”

Storm surge and heavy waves could bring coastal flooding on Wednesday night and Thursday along Bermuda’s southern coast, the center said.

Farther southeast of Humberto, the hurricane center said Tropical Storm Jerry was strengthening and was expected to become a hurricane when it approaches the Leeward Islands on Friday.

Matthew Sedacca contributed reporting.