Tropical Depression Edouard Dumps Up to 30 Inches on East Texas, Triggers Rescues and Flash Flood Emergency

Tropical Storm Edouard made landfall near the Texas-Louisiana border Tuesday afternoon with maximum sustained winds of 60 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. One weather station in Port Arthur recorded a 90 mph wind gust. The storm has since weakened to a tropical depression as its remnants parked over East Texas and dumped historic rainfall.

The National Weather Service office in Lake Charles, Louisiana reported that rainfall totals in some spots reached 15 to 22 inches by early Wednesday, with isolated areas potentially seeing 25 to 30 inches, according to the Washington Post. WFLA meteorologist Jeff Berardelli put the 24-hour total at 30 inches in the hardest-hit zones. Rainfall rates hit five inches an hour at times, according to ABC News.

Rescues Already Underway

In Livingston, an unidentified woman and her four children were rescued from their mobile home after a nearby creek overflowed, according to Click2Houston. KTRE reported additional rescues of people trapped in cars on flooded roads in the area.

A flash flood emergency was declared for Hardin and Tyler counties northeast of Houston, and the National Weather Service warned that "widespread damaging and potentially catastrophic flooding is possible with a HIGH risk of flooding in effect." The Texas Tribune reported the flash flood emergency for the Kountze, Village Mills and Honey Island area remained in effect through at least 10:45 a.m. Wednesday as the storm slowly tracked north.

Andy Tingler, a National Weather Service meteorologist, told the Texas Tribune the ground was already saturated before the storm's center passed through. "We would assume that there probably are quite a few things that are flooded over there," he said.

Cameron Self, a meteorologist with the NWS Houston/Galveston office, said the storm's center sat just north of Lake Livingston before 7 a.m. Wednesday, still producing sustained winds of 15 to 25 mph with gusts up to 40 mph. Flash flood warnings covered a broad swath including Hardin, Tyler, eastern Montgomery, southeastern San Jacinto, southeastern Polk and northern Liberty counties, with the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe reporting flooding east of Livingston.

Power Outages Concentrated Near Beaumont

More than 72,000 customers had lost power by late Wednesday morning, according to tracker PowerOutage.US. The Texas Tribune, citing PowerOutage.com data from 7:15 a.m. Wednesday, reported more than 27,000 of those outages were concentrated in Jefferson County, home to Beaumont and Port Arthur, near where the storm made landfall.

Frank Shannon, vice president of reliability for Entergy Texas, said in a news release Tuesday that crews were working to restore power despite hazardous conditions. "While high winds, flooding, and other conditions can make restoration more challenging, our teams will continue to work to reach all areas affected by the storm as soon as it is safe to do so," Shannon said.

Fallen trees and winds gusting up to 30 mph in Polk County added to the outages, according to the Independent. Schools and government offices around Houston and in the hardest-hit counties closed, with plans to reopen Wednesday, according to local outlet 12 News.

A Climate Driver, Attributed

Meteorologist Ben Noll wrote on X that a strengthening super El Niño pattern is tied to the "huge amounts" of rain hitting eastern Texas. No source in this reporting offers a competing explanation for the rainfall totals. Edouard is the fifth named storm of the current Atlantic hurricane season, according to the Independent.

Heavy rain could continue through Wednesday across a broad stretch from Houston to the northeast, with the National Weather Service warning that "significant flash flooding is possible" in urban areas still absorbing the storm's first 24 hours. Entergy Texas has not given a restoration timeline for the roughly 27,000 customers still without power in Jefferson County.