Go Back
  • For Business
  • |
  • Warnings
  • Data Suite
  • Newsletters
  • Advertising
  • Superior Accuracy™
Unconfirmed number of fatalities in Texas flooding amid catastrophic rainfall. Read here Chevron right
High risk of tropical development off US Atlantic coast. Get details Chevron right

Columbus, OH

91°F
Location Chevron down
Location News Videos
Use Current Location
Recent

Columbus

Ohio

91°
No results found.
Try searching for a city, zip code or point of interest.
settings
Columbus, OH Weather
Today WinterCast Local {stormName} Tracker Hourly Daily Radar MinuteCast Monthly Air Quality Health & Activities

Around the Globe

Hurricane Tracker

Severe Weather

Radar & Maps

News

News & Features

Astronomy

Business

Climate

Health

Recreation

Sports

Travel

For Business

Warnings

Data Suite

Newsletters

Advertising

Superior Accuracy™

Video

Winter Center

AccuWeather Early Hurricane Center Top Stories Trending Today Astronomy Heat Climate Health Recreation In Memoriam Case Studies Blogs & Webinars
Air Quality Alert

News / Weather News

Imelda's devastating rains overwhelm southeastern Texas, cause record-setting flooding

By Kevin Byrne, AccuWeather senior editor

Published Sep 18, 2019 2:17 PM EDT

Copied

AccuWeather's Jonathan Petramala reports from Houston, Texas, where nine barges broke away from a shipyard Friday morning. At least two slammed into the I-10 San Jacinto River Bridge near Channelview, Texas. Both sides of I-10 East were forced to shut down.

Roads and several communities were still submerged in 2-3 feet of water in southeastern Texas Friday after days of heavy rainfall from Tropical Rainstorm Imelda. Imelda, which came ashore as a tropical storm Tuesday, spawned rising floodwaters that turned deadly and left a bridge potentially damaged after runaway barges collided with it.

The slow-moving tropical system's torrential rain caused a devastating scene Wednesday into Thursday that was reminiscent of Hurricane Harvey's deluge just two years ago. The flooding prompted hundreds of water rescues as well as more than 1,000 calls for assistance.

The latest rainfall reports from Imelda as of 9 a.m. CDT Friday, Sept. 20.

Authorities said at least five deaths can be blamed on the widespread flooding. The first happened in Jefferson County when a person drowned while trying to move a horse to safety. Three of the deaths occurred in vehicles caught up in floodwaters. A man found in a ditch outside of Houston on Friday reportedly drowned.

Imelda drenches southeastern Texas
Twitter

Officials closed a stretch of Interstate 10 east of Houston on Friday to inspect it for structural damage after several barges slammed into a bridge along the swollen San Jacinto River.

Aerial footage captured by AccuWeather National Reporter Jonathan Petramala showed one of the barges jammed underneath the empty interstate.

The Harris County Sheriff's Office, Texas Department of Transportation and United States Coast Guard responded to the bridge near Channelview, Texas.

"At 12:05 a.m., Sector Houston-Galveston watchstanders received a report that nine barges had broken away from their moorings at the San Jacinto River Fleet, north of the San Jacinto River bridge," Coast Guard officials said in a statement. A Coast Guard helicopter and boat crew
were diverted to the scene.

The Coast Guard said that vessel movement under the I-10 bridge was suspended Thursday evening due to strong currents. The suspension remained in effect into Friday.

Gonzalez also said that one of his deputies had been swept away in floodwaters while responding to a citizen in need of rescue in Huffman, Texas, which is located near the outer reaches of Lake Houston.

While the sheriff's office lost contact with the deputy for a time, the deputy and citizen, who weren't identified, were eventually both located and were said to be in good condition.

Gonzalez said it was a multi-agency response involving the Coast Guard as well as the Houston Police Department.

Houston officials said that more than 1,600 vehicles had been towed from city streets as of 10 a.m. Friday. Additional tows of abandoned vehicles in parking lots, medians and roadways were ongoing.

The highest rainfall report came in from around the Beaumont-Port Arthur areas. An observation site near Taylor's Bayou near Hamshire reported 43.39 inches inches of rain. Hamshire is about 65 miles east of Houston. Several other areas topped the 40-inch mark, including Mayhaw Bayou (42.64 inches) and Taylor's Bayou (41.57 inches).

The torrents of rain that Imelda unleashed set numerous records, and the storm also became the seventh-wettest tropical cyclone in U.S. history.

For Houston, Thursday was the wettest calendar day ever recorded in the month of September and the fifth-wettest day ever recorded. Houston's Hobby Airport set daily records on Tuesday and Wednesday and the monthly total is now 11.37 inches, good for the third-wettest September on record for that site.

While Houston initially avoided the heaviest rainfall from Imelda, heavier bands of rain began shifting southward over the city 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.

One Texas couple spent seven hours inside their vehicle, trapped in floodwaters as they waited to be rescued. Tina and Robert Horne had gone out to make a grocery run and suddenly found themselves overwhelmed by Imelda's surging floodwaters in Splendora, about a 40-mile drive north of Houston.  

"I hit that water and poof, that was it," Robert told KTRK's Ted Oberg. "My car was floating." Firefighters used a zodiac boat to reach the couple in water that was nearly chest deep, according to Robert, and then usher them to dry land.   

Tina said she clung to her husband to prevent being swept away by the current from the rushing floodwaters. The Hornes were weary after the ordeal, but glad to be safe -- two of hundreds who need rescuing from stranded vehicles.

In a Friday afternoon update, the Harris County Sheriff's Office said they responded to 422 high-water rescues, 36 major crashes and 357 stranded vehicles.

On Thursday Texas Gov. Greg Abbott declared a state of disaster for 13 counties that were experiencing the flooding. Gov. Abbott also declared a state of emergency to give counties access to state resources as they respond to 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.”

In Vidor and Winnie, officials interviewed by separate media outlets both spoke of the dangerous waters and the severity being worse than Harvey in 2017.

Vidor, Texas, Police Chief Rod Carroll told KFDM News that the situation in town was "catastrophic" and the flooding in town was worse than Harvey.  

Videos on social media Thursday morning showed numerous water rescues being carried out by airboats, including some by the Texas Game Warden.

Farther south, Chambers County Emergency Management stated early Thursday morning that significant flooding was occurring in Winnie, with water coming into homes and businesses. Riceland Hospital was evacuated, and a flood shelter had been opened at White’s Park Community Center.

The Chambers County Sheriff's Office said the community of Winnie was "devastated" by rising water and high water rescue vehicles and airboats had been deployed.

In an interview with ABC News, Chambers County Sheriff Brian Hawthorne said the flooding in Winnie was "absolutely horrible" and homes and businesses that never got water during Hurricane Harvey in 2017 have been overwhelmed by flooding.

Elsewhere in Beaumont, the dual ABC/NBC affiliate,12 News, was forced to evacuate Thursday morning due to the rising floodwaters. The station said on its Facebook page that news anchors would broadcast from their sister station KHOU 11 out of Houston.

Imelda could be responsible for a few tornadoes that spun up in Chambers and Harris counties on Wednesday. Beaumont was under a tornado warning for a time early Thursday morning, but there were no initial reports of a confirmed tornado.

Click here to read real-time updates of Imelda's flooding.

Report a Typo
Comments that don't add to the conversation may be automatically or manually removed by Facebook or AccuWeather. Profanity, personal attacks, and spam will not be tolerated.
Comments
Hide Comments

Weather News

Weather News

Wildfires are tearing through a popular tourist hotspot in Greece

Jul. 4, 2025
Weather News

Record sargassum seaweed piles up on Caribbean islands, Gulf

Jul. 2, 2025
Weather News

Alabama teen in ICU after lightning strike hits boat, causing burns an...

Jul. 2, 2025
Show more Show less Chevron down

Topics

AccuWeather Early

Hurricane Center

Top Stories

Trending Today

Astronomy

Heat

Climate

Health

Recreation

In Memoriam

Case Studies

Blogs & Webinars

Top Stories

Weather Forecasts

Storms to spark on July 4th in parts of the Plains and Southeast

8 hours ago

Severe Weather

Storms kill 3 in New Jersey, knock out power across Northeast

3 hours ago

Hurricane

Tropical rainstorm develops off US Atlantic coast

57 minutes ago

Weather News

Fatalities in Texas amid catastrophic rainfall, water rescues

3 hours ago

Weather News

Alabama teen struck by lightning while using phone during storm

1 day ago

More Stories

Featured Stories

Weather News

‘Shark Whisperer’ swims its way into our shark obsession

1 day ago

Weather News

How to keep pets calm during 4th of July fireworks

1 week ago

Travel

Fourth of July gas hasn’t been this cheap since 2021

3 days ago

Weather News

What makes fireworks burst with vibrant colors?

1 week ago

Health

There is no safe amount of processed meat to eat, new research shows

1 day ago

AccuWeather Weather News Imelda's devastating rains overwhelm southeastern Texas, cause record-setting flooding
Company
Proven Superior Accuracy About AccuWeather Digital Advertising Careers Press Contact Us
Products & Services
For Business For Partners For Advertising AccuWeather APIs AccuWeather Connect RealFeel® and RealFeel Shade™ Personal Weather Stations
Apps & Downloads
iPhone App Android App See all Apps & Downloads
Subscription Services
AccuWeather Premium AccuWeather Professional
More
AccuWeather Ready Business Health Hurricane Leisure and Recreation Severe Weather Space and Astronomy Sports Travel Weather News Winter Center
Company
Proven Superior Accuracy About AccuWeather Digital Advertising Careers Press Contact Us
Products & Services
For Business For Partners For Advertising AccuWeather APIs AccuWeather Connect RealFeel® and RealFeel Shade™ Personal Weather Stations
Apps & Downloads
iPhone App Android App See all Apps & Downloads
Subscription Services
AccuWeather Premium AccuWeather Professional
More
AccuWeather Ready Business Health Hurricane Leisure and Recreation Severe Weather Space and Astronomy Sports Travel Weather News Winter Center
© 2025 AccuWeather, Inc. "AccuWeather" and sun design are registered trademarks of AccuWeather, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy | About Your Privacy Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information

...

...

...