Flood watch continues until 7 p.m. in Montgomery, Liberty and other Southeast Texas counties; some Liberty areas face greater risk after receiving more than 16 inches of rain in 48 hours.
The remnants of Edouard keep on Thursday the risk of flooding in the northern and eastern parts of the Houston area, even after the system lost its tropical organization and began to dissipate over Texas.
The National Weather Service (NWS) extended the flood watch until 7 p.m. on September 3 for Montgomery, Liberty, Polk, San Jacinto, Walker, Trinity and other southeast Texas counties. The soils in several of those areas are already saturated and new storms could produce rainfall of 2 to 4 inches per hour in isolated spots.
Liberty and Montgomery remain under Edouard watch until 7 p.m.
The main concerns are concentrated in parts of Liberty, Polk, San Jacinto, Montgomery and Trinity, where rainfall accumulations over the last few days left the ground with little capacity to absorb more water.
The NWS warned that new bands of rain associated with the remnants of Edouard could generate rapid runoff toward roads, creeks, low-lying areas and areas with poor drainage on Thursday.
In Montgomery County, the watch includes communities such as Conroe and The Woodlands. In Liberty County it covers, among other areas, Liberty, Dayton, Cleveland and Devers.
Parts of Liberty received up to 16.5 inches of rain in 48 hours after Edouard’s passage
The risk is higher in some parts of Liberty County.
During Thursday morning, a flash flood warning remained in effect for the northwest part of Liberty County and parts of Polk and San Jacinto. Between 3.5 and 16.5 inches of rain had fallen in those areas during the previous 48 hours, and thunderstorms could produce 2 to 3 inches of additional rain per hour in the most affected sectors.
Cleveland, Shepherd, Goodrich, Romayor, Rye, Tarkington Prairie, Moss Hill and Segno were among the communities included in the morning warning.
The National Weather Service also kept a flood warning for Menard Creek near Rye, in Liberty County. The channel was at moderate flood levels and could reach 27.2 feet during Thursday night before beginning to fall.
Harris, Chambers and Liberty also reported minor floods
Thursday’s rain was not limited to Houston’s more distant counties.
During the morning, parts of Harris County, the northwest part of Chambers County and the southern part of Liberty County were under a minor flood advisory after receiving between 1 and 4 inches of rain. The NWS estimated that 1 to 2 more inches could fall in those areas.
Liberty, Dayton, Mont Belvieu, Old River-Winfree, Ames, Daisetta, Hardin, Plum Grove, Kenefick, Devers and Dayton Lakes were among the communities included.
Drivers should not attempt to cross roads covered by water. The water level can hide pavement damage, currents or a depth greater than appears.
Current weather alerts can be checked directly at the National Weather Service Houston/Galveston.
Entergy reduced outages caused by Edouard by more than half
Power restoration also continues after Edouard caused tens of thousands of outages in Southeast Texas.
Entergy Texas had restored service to more than half of the affected customers by 6 p.m. on Wednesday. Approximately 39,000 customers still lacked power at that time, compared to a peak near 80,000 during the storm.
More than 2,000 workers were involved in restoration efforts, including line crews, vegetation equipment and damage assessment personnel. Flooded roads, fallen trees and debris have hindered access to some of the hardest-hit areas.
The number of outages changes as repairs proceed. Customers can check their location on the Entergy Texas outage map.
Houston still has a chance of storms this Thursday after Edouard
Although the greatest flood risk is concentrated further north and east, Houston can still see rain and storms on Thursday.
The National Weather Service predicted a precipitation chance of about 60% for Houston, with scattered storms that could extend southward through the afternoon.
To review the city’s forecast for the coming days, check our Houston weather update: storms, heat and rain this week.
The remnants of Edouard will continue to weaken on Thursday, but they may still produce heavy rains and flash floods in parts of East Texas.
