HOUSTON — The Latest on the remnants of Tropical Storm Imelda:
2:55 p.m.
Departures have resumed at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston to partly lift an hours-long ground stop enacted amid heavy rain and flooding that led to more than 900 flights being canceled or delayed.
Airport spokeswoman Saba Abashawl said outbound flights resumed by Thursday afternoon but no incoming planes were allowed to land. Officials tweeted that roads approaching the airport, located in the northern part of Houston, remained flooded.
The flight tracking service FlightAware reported nearly 700 flights canceled Thursday at George Bush Intercontinental Airport, with more than 200 other flights delayed.
Thursday's storms are blamed on remnants of Tropical Depression Imelda.
2:40 p.m.
Authorities say three people sustained minor injuries when the flat roof of a post office facility in Houston collapsed amid heavy rains.
The Houston Fire Department was responding to the scene Thursday morning. Fire officials said the collapse happened in a mail distribution area.
Fire officials said the building was occupied but "everyone made it out."
Photos and video from the scene showed that part of the roof was caved in and part of an outside wall had fallen into a parking area, damaging at least one vehicle.
Fire officials did not immediately say what they believe caused the collapse.
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1:50 p.m.
Officials in Houston say there have been more than 1,000 rescues and evacuations because of rising waters caused by the remnants of Tropical Depression Imelda.
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo says the rescues and evacuations caused by the flooding were in the eastern part of the county. A flash flood emergency for the area will remain in effect until 3 p.m. Thursday.
Officials are urging the public to stay off the roads.
Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez says among those rescued were nine children and employees from a daycare center that had taken on water in Aldine, about 10 miles north of Houston.
12:30 p.m.
Gov. Greg Abbott has declared 13 counties disaster areas after heavy rain and flooding from the remnants of Tropical Storm Imelda swamped parts of Southeast Texas.
Abbott on Thursday announced the disaster declaration for Brazoria, Chambers, Galveston, Hardin, Harris, Jasper, Jefferson, Liberty, Matagorda, Montgomery, Newton, Orange and San Jacinto counties.
The National Weather Service says most of Southeast Texas was under a flash flood watch through Friday morning.
Chambers County Sheriff Brian Hawthorne says emergency personnel completed more than 300 high-water rescues Thursdin the town of Winnie, located 60 miles east of Houston. Hawthorne had no reports of anyone hurt.
11:40 a.m.
Part of a busy interstate in Texas is shut down because of flooding caused by the remnants of Tropical Depression Imelda, stranding some drivers on the roadway.
Texas Department of Transportation spokeswoman Sarah Dupre says officials do not know exactly how many people are stranded in their cars on Interstate 10, which is shut down from Beaumont to Winnie. Dupre says the department is currently working with local law enforcement on a plan to get those people off the roadway.
Chambers County Sheriff Brian Hawthorne says the sheriff's office is focusing on high water rescues in Winnie and neighboring Stowell.
Hawthorne says some residents are up on their roofs because of rising floodwaters.
10:45 a.m.
Hundreds of flights have been canceled or delayed at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston due to heavy rain and flooding in Southeast Texas.
Airport officials reported a full ground stop Thursday morning, meaning no flights landing or departing, with flooding on some roads leading to the airport in far north Houston.
The flight tracking service FlightAware reported more than 160 flights canceled Thursday at George Bush Intercontinental Airport, with nearly 300 other flights delayed.
Airport spokeswoman Saba Abashawl said some inbound flights were diverted to William P. Hobby Airport, on the south side of Houston.
10:20 a.m.
Heavy rainfall from the remnants of Tropical Depression Imelda is hitting the north Houston area, prompting forecasters to issue a flash flood emergency warning.
The National Weather Service says thunderstorms could drop 3 to 5 inches of rain per hour through midday Thursday in parts of Harris County, where Houston is located. The weather service says flash flooding is expected to follow.
The National Hurricane Center says the center of Imelda was located about 55 miles north of Houston as of 10 a.m. Thursday. The hurricane center says the storm system could cause isolated rainfall totals of up to 40 inches this week in parts of southeast Texas.
9:20 a.m.
Authorities say emergency workers have rescued about 200 people from a small Texas town hit hard by flooding from Tropical Depression Imelda.
Chambers County Sheriff Brian Hawthorne says about 50 additional households were on a waiting list to be rescued Thursday in the town of Winnie, about 60 miles east of Houston. He says airboats from the sheriff's office and the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department were helping with the rescues, along with high-water vehicles.
Hawthorne told The Associated Press that the town "looks like a lake." He says it's the worst storm-related flooding he's seen after going through hurricanes including Rita in 2005, Ike in 2008, and Harvey two years ago.
In Beaumont, police said on Twitter that they've had requests for more than 250 water rescues and 270 evacuations.
EARLIER:
HOUSTON — Rain from Tropical Depression Imelda deluged parts of Texas and Louisiana on Thursday, prompting hundreds of water rescues, a hospital evacuation and road closures in areas east of Houston that were hit hard by Hurricane Harvey two years ago.
Forecasters warned that Imelda could bring up to 35 inches of rain this week in some areas of Texas through Friday. The storm system also brought the risk of severe weather and prompted tornado warnings Thursday morning in the areas hit hardest by the flooding.
No reports of deaths or injuries related to the storm were immediately reported Thursday. In Houston, a flash flood watch remained in effect until 7 p.m. Thursday but the city itself has been spared from the heaviest rainfall.
The worst of the flooding is east of Houston, and some local officials said the rainfall Thursday is causing flooding worse than what happened during Hurricane Harvey .
In Winnie, a town of about 3,200 people located 60 miles east of Houston, a hospital was evacuated and water is inundating several homes and businesses. The Chambers County Sheriff's Office said Winnie is "being devastated by rising water" and water rescues are ongoing.
"What I'm sitting in right now makes Harvey look like a little thunderstorm," Chambers County Sheriff Brian Hawthorne told Houston TV station KTRK .
In Beaumont, a city of just under 120,000 people that's located about 30 miles from the Gulf of Mexico, authorities said all service roads are impassable and two local hospitals are inaccessible, the Beaumont Enterprise reported. The Beaumont Police Department said on Twitter that 911 has received requests for more than 250 high water rescues and 270 evacuations.
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"It's bad. Homes that did not flood in Harvey are flooding now," Jefferson County Judge Jeff Branick said. During Harvey, Beaumont's only pump station was swamped by floodwaters, leaving residents without water service for more than a week.
The National Weather Service issued a flash flood emergency for several counties, saying "life-threatening amounts of rainfall" have fallen and more is expected in the area Thursday. Imelda's center was located about 110 miles north of Houston early Thursday and was moving north-northwest at 5 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Heavy rainfall occurred Wednesday in many areas and spawned several weak tornadoes in the Baytown area, about 25 miles east of Houston, damaging trees, barns and sheds and causing minor damage to some homes and vehicles.
Coastal counties, including Brazoria, Matagorda and Galveston, were hit hard by rainfall through Wednesday. Sargent, a town of about 2,700 residents in Matagorda County, had received nearly 20 inches of rain since Tuesday.
Karen Romero, who lives with her husband in Sargent, said Wednesday this was the most rain she has had in her neighborhood in her nine years living there.
"The rain [Tuesday] night was just massive sheets of rain and lightning storms," said Romero, 57.
She said her home, located along a creek, was not in danger of flooding as it sits on stilts, like many others nearby.
In the Houston area, the rainfall flooded some roadways Wednesday, stranding drivers, and caused several creeks and bayous to rise to high levels.
The National Hurricane Center said Imelda weakened to a tropical depression after making landfall Tuesday near Freeport, Texas, with maximum sustained winds of 40 mph.
The weather service said Imelda is the first named storm to impact the Houston area since Hurricane Harvey dumped nearly 50 inches of rain on parts of the flood-prone city in August 2017, flooding more than 150,000 homes in the Houston area and causing an estimated $125 billion in damage in Texas.