Four dead as Houston area welcomes relief, rescues
HOUSTON» Emergency workers used boats Friday to rescue about 60 residents of a Houston-area community still trapped in their homes by floodwaters after one of the wettest tropical cyclones in U.S. history.
At least four deaths have been linked to the remnants of Tropical Storm Imelda, which deluged parts of Texas and Louisiana and drew comparisons to Hurricane Harvey two years ago. Officials took advantage of receding floodwaters to begin assessing how many homes and cars were flooded.
Almost 16 feet of standing water was reported in Huffman, northeast of Houston, when a nearby bayou overflowed. The Harris County Sheriff’s Office deployed its marine unit to evacuate about 60 people. Officials have warned residents they might not see high waters recede in their neighborhoods until the weekend.
Tuesday Martin, one of the residents in Huffman who was rescued, couldn’t help but think of Harvey when Imelda’s floodwaters rushed into her home.
“Harvey affected us. We lost the whole first floor,” Martin said. “So, it’s like two years later, we do not want to go through this again.”
East of Houston in Jefferson County, which got hit by more than 40 inches of rain, officials also began taking stock of their damage. They also announced the death of Malcolm Foster, a 47-year-old Beaumont resident whose body was found inside his vehicle.
The heaviest rainfall had ended by Thursday night in southeast Texas, but forecasters warned that parts of northeast Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Louisiana could see flash flooding as Imelda’s remnants shifted north. Officials in Harris County, which includes Houston, said there had been a combination of at least 1,700 high-water rescues after Thursday’s torrential rainfall.
“The water is getting lower, and it’s time for assessment and to move into recovery,” said Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, the county’s top administrator.
Most of the Houston-area roads that became waterlogged after heavy rainfall Thursday and resulted in more than 1,650 vehicles being abandoned and later towed were mostly dry
More bad news for Bermuda.
As the tropical rainstorm spurred by Imelda’s remnants finally starts to taper in Texas, Bermuda eyes its second hurricane threat in 10 days.
Jerry has maintained hurricane strength. Its center is about 350 miles east of the Lesser Antilles. Alhough its track will take it well north of the Leeward Islands, heavy rainfall and rip currents remain possible.
Jerry will turn to the northwest before an abrupt northeasterly turn, potentially taking its center of circulation close to Bermuda on Tuesday or Wednesday. This comes less than a week after Category 3 Friday.
But parts of one of the major thoroughfares that passes through southeast Texas — Interstate 10 — remained closed Friday because of floodwaters from torrential rain in the Beaumont area. Another freeway section, closer to Houston, also was Humberto’s eyewall nicked Bermuda’s northern fringe Wednesday night, bringing winds gusting more than 130 mph.
Bermuda’s 11-milelong island is a minuscule but well-placed target for hurricanes.
Bermuda has suffered three direct landfalls and numerous sideswipes in the past five years, making it perhaps the most hurricane-prone community in the Atlantic.
Jerry will peter along at current intensity as a Category 1 or 2 hurricane for the next several days, likely remaining at hurricane strength until just after it passes Bermuda. shut down as officials assessed damage to its bridges over the San Jacinto River after they were hit by two barges that broke free of their moorings.
Nearly 123,000 vehicles usually cross the bridges each day, according to the Texas Department of Transportation.
More than 900 flights were canceled or delayed in Houston on Thursday. Airports in the city resumed operating normally Friday.
Officials say two of the deaths from Imelda happened in the Houston area: an unidentified man in his 40s or 50s who drowned Thursday while driving a van in 8-foot-deep floodwaters, and a man whose body was found in a ditch Friday and is believed to have drowned.
In Jefferson County, besides Foster’s death, officials say that a 19-year-old man drowned and was electrocuted Thursday while trying to move his horse to safety.
The National Weather Service said preliminary estimates suggested Jefferson County was hit with more than 40 inches of rain in a span of just 72 hours, which would make it the seventhwettest tropical cyclone to hit the continental U.S.