Serious flash flooding from tropical depression hits southeast Texas

Southeast Texas was hit by serious flash flooding from Tropical Depression Imelda on Thursday, trapping people in their vehicles and homes and killing at least one person.

One official said the flooding compares to Hurricane Harvey, which hit the area in 2017.

“What I’m sitting in right now makes Harvey look like a little thunderstorm,” Chambers County Sheriff Brian Hawthorne told KTRK.

The National Hurricane Center has issued a flash flooding warning for millions of people in eastern Texas and western Louisiana, CNN reported.{mosads}

Imelda, which was downgraded from a tropical storm last weekend, has brought more than 20 inches of rain to some locations, with 5 to 10 more inches expected, the network added.

The worst of the flooding was reported just north and east of Houston, including the city of Beaumont, where 250 high-water rescues and 270 evacuations have occurred, according to The Associated Press. 

The floods have submerged portions of I-10 surrounding Beaumont and other roads, leaving several drivers stranded. 

“Motorists who come upon a section of roadway that has water flowing across it should seek an alternate route, and should never go around barricades that have been set up at low water crossings,” the Texas Department of Transportation said in a statement.

The storm has left at least one person dead, NBC News reported.

The storm is expected to move east, potentially bringing massive downpours to north Texas, western Louisiana and portions of Arkansas and Oklahoma, according to the National Weather Service.

Slow moving tropical Depression Imelda will continue bringing heavy rain to the Upper Texas Coast and northward along the TX/LA border through Friday. An additional 4-10 inches of rain, and up to 25 inches of storm total in isolated areas may result in flash flooding. pic.twitter.com/E26uscieFe

— National Weather Service (@NWS) September 18, 2019

Updated: 9:30 p.m.