Very serious flooding situation evolving with Imelda’s remains

Simply put, all heck is breaking loose across the city as a slow-moving band of heavy rainfall slogs through Houston today. Unfortunately, while we knew heavy rainfall was likely in parts of the city today, we did not anticipate an event as significant in scope as this for Thursday. So far we have seen rainfall rates of 4 and 5 inches per hour in parts of the metro area, and it has caused widespread problems for much of Houston. Here’s three separate systems as of noon CT that bear watching.

Houston area radar at noon CT. (kktv.com/Space City Weather)

It is hard to have too much confidence moving forward, but very generally we can expect these storms to sag slowly to the south during the rest of the afternoon. We think rainfall rates have probably peaked as cloud tops associated with the system have started to warm a little bit, indicating less potential to produce the very heaviest rainfall rate. But in a slow-moving storm, 3 inches per hour can flood is more than enough to very quickly cause flooding.

The key message right now is that if you are in a dry location and it is raining heavily at your outside, you should not leave. If you have to drive through heavy rains, or heavily hit areas to get to your destination, stay where you are. Above all, do not drive into high water. A lot of people die that way. This storm will pass. We still have a general expectation that the overall system will weaken during the afternoon hours, and begin to dissipate after sunset.

52 thoughts on “Very serious flooding situation evolving with Imelda’s remains”

  4. Transstar website is down – too many people looking at it I suppose.

    Radar looks like maybe the main band is weakening a bit as it moves outside the loop. Hoping so…..I’m next.

  5. Thanks for the frequent updates. It helps to at least know what is going on and what is predicted to happen.

  6. The new normal in a rapidly warming world, I guess. A hotter Gulf of Mexico will mean a lot more of this to come for SE Texas.

  7. Too sad for words. I grew up in Houston. Yes, we had Carla but not every 2 years-tropical storms slamming us with 2 ft. Of water! We must do something drastic to slow down climate change.

  8. Virtually every road’s under water. Cars are flooding like crazy, kids are stuck at schools. City officials saw this coming this morning from the same band that clobbered Conroe and Cleveland all night was sagging south, and they did nothing.

      • Think she means they should have closed the schools or at least delayed start until it passed (which essentially would’ve meant the entire day). Warning people to stay off the roads doesn’t mean anything if they still have to go in to work, and most businesses would’ve closed if the schools would have.

      • Yes but keep in mind that many area schools decided to stay open today. That leaves parents in the tough situation where they may be home and their kids are at school.

        • Yes!! I live in Tomball but my daughter is at school downtown! How are parents gonna get their kids from school?? I cannot believe the school districts didn’t cancel school today!

    • Both of my children’s schools have just sent out emails that they are canceling all after school activities and extended day, and one of them has said that the campus will be fully closed by 4:30. I’m hoping that I can actually get there by then, but who knows with the way the roads look right now. It is very stressful.

  13. Stuck at the office, several people have tried to leave but ended up coming back saying there is no way. We are near Woodway/Post Oak.

    Hopefully this will pass but it seems to have slowed quite a bit.

  15. Just got home, but I shouldn’t have left work. Harrowing drive from downtown to Richmond near 610. The water on Richmond was very high.

  21. Stuck in my Galveston office. It has been raining hard here for hours and doesn’t show signs of letting up any time soon. I’m a nervous wreck! Logically, I know it’s pointless to freak out about something I don’t control, but my Harvey PTSD is in high gear now.

        • Rebecca, You are very welcome. I’m sorry for the typo. I meant to say “I’m so sorry”. Not sure where ‘including’ came from.

          I totally empathized w your comment & had to say something. I hope all ended up ok w you.

          I was stuck in league city so totally got what you were saying about being at Galveston office. It’s good to be home now!

          Scott

    • Rebecca, I flooded tax day and Harvey. I knew I felt PTSD every time it rained afterward. I felt guilty even saying it because I though PTSD should be reserved for military vets or folks who had experience real horrific trauma. I mentioned this to my doctor and she said that PTSD from Harvey was a very real thing and not to diminish my feelings. So I totally understand how you feel. Fortunately for me, in the Cypress area, this event hasn’t been as bad, but for the first time ever I’m considering the possibility of leaving Houston. I’ve always said you can’t move away from bad weather; you just trade one type of bad weather for another (I’ve done snow/blizzards, never again) but the frequency of flooding rain events here is beyond wearying now.

      • LG, i really feel for you that’s you flooded twice. That’s terrible.

        I’m not sure what the answer is. Does the high desert of Nevada present it’s own problems? I’m sure there is something.

        I believe the anxiety from Harvey for those that didn’t flood is real. If your flooded I’d imagine it’s something you will always live with.

  22. I’m in California on business and I’m worried about my family in energy corridor. My son is at school in the piney point / san felipe area and I’m not sure my wife will be able to get to him if she waits much longer.

    I think I’m done living in Houston.

    • Me too. Just waiting to hit retirement. The summer heat is bad enough now his every couple of years. Tennessee awaits…

    • We left Houston after Harvey. I was tired of seeing my Westbury/Meyerland community flood at the first drop of rain (didn’t even take a hurricane). Now we live in the PNW where the weather is much nicer and natural disasters are not the norm. Y’all stay safe and try to stay dry! Still worried about my friends and family in Htown.

  23. I am an HCC teacher at Alief-Hayes campus. Currently everyone is stuck in our building because all the roads around us are flooded. They cancelled classes yesterday proactively, but unfortunately today is much worse.

  24. Thank you for all your coverage so far, and as things are starting to wind down weather-wise, I’ll put a feeler out there for whether or not there will be another opportunity to purchase apparel. I missed the last opportunity and am kicking myself, I had just discovered the site. Now I’m hooked, simply top notch reporting and I want to be able to support you guys in this way. Keep up the great work!

  25. I see that this big fat juicy rain band has sagged enough south for me to worry that it will go off shore..I’m worried that it will hit the water, get stronger and plague us again…Can you address this with your next update? I’m very grateful for your no nonsense reporting..

  26. Re not “anticipating” an event as big as today’s, no one certainly did. That said, what dynamic did the models not pick up, maybe a scenario not “baked in”? Or sometimes is it just an “act of God” where storms can still surprise the experts & “flummox” all the models? Either way, will love to hear the “post game” analysis on this one, so please pass along once determined! Thanks for all you do guys!

    • People need to realize it’s called a weather “forecast” for a reason. It’s not an absolute statement of what will happen.

  27. OK, it’s almost 4:20 and still nuttin’ around here (Ellington). Less than 2″ since bed time last night.

    What’s more amazing is the city pick-ed up both my trash AND my recycling on their scheduled days today. They usually don’t do that in good weather.

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