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| Imelda Swamps Texas With Flooding Rain: Live Updates | |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| Tropical Depression Imelda deluged southeast Texas on Thursday, pounding some areas with torrential rain and causing devastating flooding that shut down highways and left thousands of stranded residents in need of rescue. | |
| The storm, which had been churning over Houston on Wednesday, slammed the area around Beaumont, Tex., overnight and throughout the day Thursday, adding to rainfall totals that are among the highest the region has faced since Hurricane Harvey in 2017. | |
| As the chaotic scene unfolded on Thursday, the toll from Harvey was fresh in the communal memory in a part of the state that has been flooded again and again, where some residents who were devastated by the storm two years ago had only recently begun to fully recover. | As the chaotic scene unfolded on Thursday, the toll from Harvey was fresh in the communal memory in a part of the state that has been flooded again and again, where some residents who were devastated by the storm two years ago had only recently begun to fully recover. |
| Harvey battered a wider region, lingering for days as a tropical storm and dropping more than 50 inches of rain in some areas. Imelda’s heaviest rains have come in more isolated pockets, but have soaked areas southwest of Beaumont with up to 42 inches of rain this week, most of it in the last 24 hours, and many residents feared that the storm could do just as much damage. | |
| “It’s bad,” Judge Jeff Branick of Jefferson County told The Beaumont Enterprise. “Homes that did not flood in Harvey are flooding now.” | “It’s bad,” Judge Jeff Branick of Jefferson County told The Beaumont Enterprise. “Homes that did not flood in Harvey are flooding now.” |
| Imelda, the first named storm to hit the region since Harvey in 2017, produced widespread flooding on Thursday in a part of Texas that was also clobbered by that storm. | |
| While Houston was perhaps harder hit two years ago, Beaumont also suffered deadly flooding from Harvey that shut off running water and nearly turned the city of 120,000 into an island. Between the two cities, for 100 miles, town after town was under water in 2017 | |
| That same area felt some of the worst of Imelda’s effects on Thursday. Gov. Greg Abbott declared a state of emergency for much of southeastern Texas. | |
| In Beaumont, drivers were stuck in their cars as the flooding around them reached as high as their door handles. Exxon Mobil shut down its chemical plant there and was closely monitoring its refinery on the same site. The Beaumont Police Department said that it was overwhelmed with calls, fielding nearly 600 requests for assistance as of Thursday morning. | |
| In the southwest part of the city, residents were reporting water as deep as five feet. Volunteers in boats were pushing their way into neighborhoods to rescue stranded people. | In the southwest part of the city, residents were reporting water as deep as five feet. Volunteers in boats were pushing their way into neighborhoods to rescue stranded people. |
| Kenny Vaughan, who lives in Beaumont, said he had been out on his airboat with his daughter since daylight, ferrying people to nearby hotels, the tallest buildings around. | Kenny Vaughan, who lives in Beaumont, said he had been out on his airboat with his daughter since daylight, ferrying people to nearby hotels, the tallest buildings around. |
| “We can’t get them out of here fast enough,” he said, just after pulling onboard a man with a disability who had been trapped in a bed encircled in water. | “We can’t get them out of here fast enough,” he said, just after pulling onboard a man with a disability who had been trapped in a bed encircled in water. |
| Mr. Vaughan said he had made similar runs during Hurricane Harvey, but that this time the devastation seemed more severe. | Mr. Vaughan said he had made similar runs during Hurricane Harvey, but that this time the devastation seemed more severe. |
| “Everyone has three more feet of water than they did during Harvey,” he said. “The whole city is going under.” | “Everyone has three more feet of water than they did during Harvey,” he said. “The whole city is going under.” |
| To the southwest, Chambers County was experiencing some of the worst flooding, as heavy rain poured down from a dark gray sky, giant blue-white veins of lightning flashed and thunder growled. Some panicked residents were struggling to get through to 911 operators, and resorted to email instead. A hospital evacuated some patients but remained open, with employees trudging barefoot across the sopping floor to treat those who remained. | To the southwest, Chambers County was experiencing some of the worst flooding, as heavy rain poured down from a dark gray sky, giant blue-white veins of lightning flashed and thunder growled. Some panicked residents were struggling to get through to 911 operators, and resorted to email instead. A hospital evacuated some patients but remained open, with employees trudging barefoot across the sopping floor to treat those who remained. |
| As the rain pelted down and waters rose on Thursday, some homeowners and officials were reporting flooding as severe as any they had seen in years, with little sign of a reprieve. Forecasters predicted that the rain would continue, with an additional 10 inches of rain possible through Thursday night. | As the rain pelted down and waters rose on Thursday, some homeowners and officials were reporting flooding as severe as any they had seen in years, with little sign of a reprieve. Forecasters predicted that the rain would continue, with an additional 10 inches of rain possible through Thursday night. |
| “What I’m sitting in right now makes Harvey look like a little thunderstorm,” Sheriff Brian Hawthorne of Chambers County told ABC13 in Houston. “It’s dire out here. I’m fearful for this community right now.” | “What I’m sitting in right now makes Harvey look like a little thunderstorm,” Sheriff Brian Hawthorne of Chambers County told ABC13 in Houston. “It’s dire out here. I’m fearful for this community right now.” |
| Imelda had spent most of its force by Thursday evening, but it was not done soaking eastern Texas, forecasters at the National Hurricane Center said. Its sustained winds were down to 15 miles an hour, and it no longer qualified even as a tropical depression. | |
| But there was a good deal of rain still to fall on a region already drenched and flooding, the center said: 3 to 5 more inches along the Texas coast, 2 to 4 more inland, with isolated areas of as much as 8 inches. Isolated tornadoes were still possible as well. | |
| The remnants of Imelda were expected to drift slowly north-northwest toward Oklahoma Thursday night and Friday. | |
| Carla Cruz, 23, remembers Hurricane Harvey all too well. She remembers the surprise she and other Beaumont residents felt at the devastation it wrought. She remembers how she was roused in the middle of the night and forced to evacuate, how the water flowed through her house on Calder Avenue, how it took more than a year to replace her ruined furniture, and how she couldn’t drink the tap water or shower at home for two weeks after the storm. | |
| When her dog began howling at around 4 a.m. Thursday, Ms. Cruz said, she woke up and swung her feet out of bed to see what was wrong. She felt cold water and heard a splash, and her heart sank. It had happened again. | |
| “It was too late for us to try to save furniture and clothes,” she said from her brother’s house on higher ground in Beaumont. As Ms. Cruz and her family grabbed a few belongings, the water rose to their knees. When they walked out the door, it came up to her waist. | |
| “Outside my house, it was basically like a lake,” she said. Her car was filled with water. | |
| Ms. Cruz, a server at an Italian restaurant who grew up in Beaumont, said residents of the city live with “a little PTSD,” and tend to exchange nervous glances whenever it rains for more than an hour. After Harvey, she thought local and state officials would be ready with adequate warnings before the next storm. | |
| “I know it’s weather, and we can’t control it, but we went through this already,” she said. “It’s literally not my first time.” | |
| Jody Chesson, 53, who commutes 33 miles to his job at the Goodyear chemical plant in Beaumont, got an early start on Thursday, knowing the heavy rain would slow him down. “When I left Bridge City about 3:30 in the morning, it wasn’t that bad,” he said. | Jody Chesson, 53, who commutes 33 miles to his job at the Goodyear chemical plant in Beaumont, got an early start on Thursday, knowing the heavy rain would slow him down. “When I left Bridge City about 3:30 in the morning, it wasn’t that bad,” he said. |
| Driving a lifted 4-door Jeep Wrangler, he kept his speed to 25 miles an hour, he said, and didn’t have too much difficulty with the wet spots on Highway 69. But when he got to Beaumont and took the ramp onto Interstate 10, he got in too deep almost before he knew it. | Driving a lifted 4-door Jeep Wrangler, he kept his speed to 25 miles an hour, he said, and didn’t have too much difficulty with the wet spots on Highway 69. But when he got to Beaumont and took the ramp onto Interstate 10, he got in too deep almost before he knew it. |
| “It was immediate,” he said. “I put my brakes on, but it was at the hood. By the time I stopped, it was over the hood.” | “It was immediate,” he said. “I put my brakes on, but it was at the hood. By the time I stopped, it was over the hood.” |
| He tried backing up, but the engine died. “Water was just gushing in,” Mr. Chesson said. He couldn’t open the driver’s side door, but he managed to get out on the passenger’s side and climb onto the roof of the Jeep. He called 911 from there, but was told no one was available to help him right away. | He tried backing up, but the engine died. “Water was just gushing in,” Mr. Chesson said. He couldn’t open the driver’s side door, but he managed to get out on the passenger’s side and climb onto the roof of the Jeep. He called 911 from there, but was told no one was available to help him right away. |
| “I decided, I’m not going to just stand put,” he said. So he left the Jeep and set out for a nearby hotel, the Elegante, walking when he could and swimming when he had to. He said he was glad he had thought to grab his work bag from the Jeep, because it had a flashlight in it, and his phone charger. | “I decided, I’m not going to just stand put,” he said. So he left the Jeep and set out for a nearby hotel, the Elegante, walking when he could and swimming when he had to. He said he was glad he had thought to grab his work bag from the Jeep, because it had a flashlight in it, and his phone charger. |
| The hotel still had power, and others had taken refuge there as well. When water began to flood the lobby, he said, they climbed the stairs to higher floors because the elevator couldn’t be used. | The hotel still had power, and others had taken refuge there as well. When water began to flood the lobby, he said, they climbed the stairs to higher floors because the elevator couldn’t be used. |
| Much too late, Mr. Chesson then found out that he could have just stayed home: Goodyear sent out a notice at 7:30 a.m. that it was canceling his shift and closing the plant because of flooding. Stuck at the hotel, he got himself a bag of popcorn, he said; by early afternoon, he had half of it left. | Much too late, Mr. Chesson then found out that he could have just stayed home: Goodyear sent out a notice at 7:30 a.m. that it was canceling his shift and closing the plant because of flooding. Stuck at the hotel, he got himself a bag of popcorn, he said; by early afternoon, he had half of it left. |
| In the Houston area, which had seemed to escape the worst of the storm earlier in the week, rain was falling at up to four inches per hour on Thursday, flooding some streets and disrupting travel. There was at least one report of a building whose roof collapsed in the deluge. | |
| George Bush Intercontinental Airport north of Houston, which serves an average of 120,000 travelers a day, briefly came to a “full ground stop,” in the morning, with all flight operations halted because of the weather. Flights headed to Houston were delayed by an average of nearly four hours. Some were diverted south to the city’s secondary airport, William P. Hobby, where flight operations were continuing. | |
| At a news briefing, Mayor Sylvester Turner of Houston discouraged employers from sending their workers home early, saying everyone should avoid driving on the roads until the flooding receded. | At a news briefing, Mayor Sylvester Turner of Houston discouraged employers from sending their workers home early, saying everyone should avoid driving on the roads until the flooding receded. |
| “Wherever you are right now, stay put,” Mr. Turner said. “If you’re at work, please stay put.” | “Wherever you are right now, stay put,” Mr. Turner said. “If you’re at work, please stay put.” |
| A television reporter posted video of a truck driver being rescued from his cab after it got stuck in high water. By the afternoon, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office said it had received 133 calls for high-water rescues in and around Houston. | |
| Representatives of the county’s transportation department visited subdivisions around the county in the afternoon to see if conditions there were safe enough to send students home from school. | |
| Some high schools in the Aldine Independent School District, north of Houston, were dismissing students, while others were sheltering them in place, according to Mike Keeney, a district spokesman. He said that every school campus had food and supplies, and that teachers would remain until it was deemed safe for buses to take students home. | |
| “We’ve had some water damage to 19 schools so far, nothing major,” Mr. Keeney said. “There is water inside, or ceiling tiles knocked out of place. But a lot of subdivisions go underwater when there’s this much rain. It’s going to be a long evening.” He said his own home was flooded with half an inch of rainwater. | |
| Mr. Keeney said he was told by county emergency management officials in the afternoon that, with no more bands of heavy rain expected, it might take 2 to 3 hours for the water to drain from major avenues, and up to 26 hours for other parts of the county to dry out. District officials planned to hold a conference call at 3 a.m. Friday to determine whether there will be school on Friday. | |
| “We got lucky with Harvey and Ike,” he said, referring to a fast-moving 2008 hurricane that caused extensive wind damage but relatively little major flooding. “But Mother Nature caught us this time.” | |
| Climate change tends to increase the amount of rainfall during storms, since a warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture, but scientists must evaluate individual storms after the fact to determine how much climate change may have contributed to them. (Researchers found that the record rainfall during Harvey was as much as 38 percent higher than would be expected in a world that was not warming.) | Climate change tends to increase the amount of rainfall during storms, since a warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture, but scientists must evaluate individual storms after the fact to determine how much climate change may have contributed to them. (Researchers found that the record rainfall during Harvey was as much as 38 percent higher than would be expected in a world that was not warming.) |
| Colby Croom, a volunteer who uses his boat to help rescue people from flooded homes in the Beaumont area, said his cellphone was inundated with dozens of calls on Thursday morning, sometimes hearing from more than 10 people a minute. | Colby Croom, a volunteer who uses his boat to help rescue people from flooded homes in the Beaumont area, said his cellphone was inundated with dozens of calls on Thursday morning, sometimes hearing from more than 10 people a minute. |
| “Most of them are crying, begging for me to come rescue them,” Mr. Croom said from a grocery store parking lot in Vidor, Tex., describing the calls he had gotten from miles away in Beaumont and Port Arthur. “There’s no way for me to get there,” he said. | “Most of them are crying, begging for me to come rescue them,” Mr. Croom said from a grocery store parking lot in Vidor, Tex., describing the calls he had gotten from miles away in Beaumont and Port Arthur. “There’s no way for me to get there,” he said. |
| In a video phone call on Thursday, Mr. Croom pointed out the high water surrounding him in the parking lot, which was serving as his base of operations. He said he had been out since early in the morning, and had already helped several families flee their homes. | |
| “I’ve seen water over rooftops,” he said. “I’ve seen vehicles stalled out. Man, it’s kind of like the Harvey deal all over again.” | “I’ve seen water over rooftops,” he said. “I’ve seen vehicles stalled out. Man, it’s kind of like the Harvey deal all over again.” |
| Reporting was contributed by Manny Fernandez from Anahuac, Tex.; Margaret Toal from Orange, Tex.; Rick Rojas from Tuscaloosa, Ala.; and Sarah Mervosh, Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs, John Schwartz and Adeel Hassan from New York. | Reporting was contributed by Manny Fernandez from Anahuac, Tex.; Margaret Toal from Orange, Tex.; Rick Rojas from Tuscaloosa, Ala.; and Sarah Mervosh, Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs, John Schwartz and Adeel Hassan from New York. |