Texas authorities rescued dozens of people from stranded cars, flooded homes and former assisted living facilities. Tropical Storm Edward The hurricane lingered in rural parts of the state, dumping nearly 2 feet of rain in some areas.
The National Weather Service said the storm weakened into a tropical depression after making landfall on Tuesday and was expected to threaten the eastern part of the state Thursday morning.
At the same time, a tropical weather outbreak Hurricanes persist in the Pacific, with three hurricanes raging over open waters.
In Texas’ hard-hit Hardin County, about 85 miles (137 kilometers) northeast of Houston, officials said flooding, downed trees and power lines, debris and power outages continued to pose dangers.
The weather service said between 18 inches (45 centimeters) and 20 inches (51 centimeters) of rain fell in parts of the county over the past two days. The average monthly rainfall in September is just 5.51 inches (14 centimeters), said Nick Slaughter, a meteorologist with the Bureau of Meteorology.
In areas near the Louisiana border, schools and municipal offices were closed and residents were told to stay home.
Edwards chops down trees, floods roads and leaves drivers stranded
Twelve motorists had to be rescued after driving onto flooded roads, two people had to be rescued from flooded homes, about 10 buildings were damaged by trees and thousands remained without power, the Hardin County Office of Emergency Management said Wednesday afternoon.
The main problem in Jefferson County, about 80 miles (130 kilometers) northeast of Houston, is restoring power after trees and branches were blown down during the storm, which had wind gusts of up to 90 mph (144 kph), said Robert Grimm, the county’s emergency management coordinator. About 22,000 customers in the county were without power as of late Wednesday afternoon, affecting nearly half of the 50,000 utility customers across the state. Outage website.
Grady Ledger said a power line snapped near his home near Lumberton on Tuesday night and he could feel vibrations coming from the ground as the storm moved through Hardin County.
“Some blue, yellow, white sparks lit up part of my dead tree,” Ledger said.
An assisted living facility in Hardin County was damaged and 21 people were evacuated, according to Texas Parks and Wildlife, whose game wardens assisted. Photos from the agency showed some officers wading in thigh-deep water in parts of the county.
Edward is expected to dissipate on Thursday.
There are 3 hurricanes in the Pacific
Hurricane Marie strengthened as a tropical storm in the Pacific Ocean off southwest Mexico on Wednesday, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said.
Waves generated by the storm are expected to affect parts of the southwestern coast of Mexico and the Baja California peninsula in the coming days. The center said they could spread to Southern California over the weekend.
Hurricane Lowell, a Category 4 storm, struck hundreds of miles south of Hawaii on Wednesday. It briefly intensified to a Category 5 storm before weakening again and is expected to remain strong over the next few days. The center said waves generated by Lowell could affect parts of the Hawaiian Islands starting Wednesday.
Marie and Lowell, the center said the waves “could result in life-threatening surf and tearing current conditions.”
Elsewhere in the Pacific, Hurricane Karina intensified into a powerful Category 4 storm. Forecasters say winds will weaken over the next few days.
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Stengel reported from Dallas. Associated Press writers Anna Wilder (Austin, Texas), Kathy McCormack (Concord, New Hampshire), Dave Collins (Hartford, Connecticut), Julie Walker (New York) and Hallie Golden (Seattle) contributed to this report.
