Roughly 70,000 Entergy Texas customers lost power Tuesday, Sept. 1, as Tropical Storm Edouard swept across Southeast Texas with heavy rain and high winds.

The outage count more than tripled in just over two hours. FOX 26 Houston reported about 21,800 customers were in the dark at 4:50 p.m. By 7:15 p.m., that number had climbed to approximately 70,000, according to an Entergy Texas update posted on Woodlands Online.

By early Wednesday, Sept. 2, outages had dropped to roughly 56,800 across Southeast Texas, the Houston Chronicle reported. A 6 a.m. Wednesday snapshot of Entergy's outage map showed Jefferson County with 28,566 customers still without power, Hardin County with 13,889, Orange County with 8,229 and Tyler County with 4,306.

The Woodlands-headquartered utility said more than 1,500 resources were in the field assessing damage and making repairs. That includes personnel, equipment and vehicles. Crews were rotating through multiple shifts to keep restoration work going around the clock.

Entergy Texas has not released an outage count specific to The Woodlands service area, and no estimated restoration time has been announced.

"Our crews are doing everything they can to safely restore service to our customers," Frank Shannon, vice president of reliability for Entergy Texas, said in the Tuesday evening update. "While high winds, flooding and other conditions can make restoration more challenging, our teams will continue working to reach all areas affected by the storm as soon as it is safe to do so."

Bucket trucks cannot operate when sustained winds hit 35 mph or higher. To work around that limit, crews deployed helicopters, drones, rear-alley machines and high-water vehicles for damage assessments and repairs.

Edouard made landfall just west of Holly Beach, Louisiana, shortly after 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, according to KFDM. The National Hurricane Center reported sustained winds of 60 mph at landfall, with gusts reaching 71 mph at Texas Point, Texas. The storm was downgraded to a tropical depression by 10 p.m. Tuesday as winds dropped to near 35 mph, the Houston Chronicle reported.

The National Hurricane Center issued its final advisory on Edouard at 5 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 2, and expected the storm to dissipate later that day. The NWS Houston office said tropical storm warnings for Chambers County, southern Liberty County and adjacent Gulf waters had been dropped as Edouard pushed inland. Wind advisories remained in effect through Wednesday afternoon along and east of I-45.

The NWS also upgraded the flash flood risk for Wednesday to Moderate, a Level 3 of 4, for portions of San Jacinto, Polk, Walker, Trinity, Madison and Houston counties. Total rainfall along Edouard's path was forecast at 4 to 8 inches, with some areas seeing up to 12 inches, according to the National Hurricane Center's Wednesday morning advisory.

As we reported Tuesday, a flood watch was already in place for Montgomery County ahead of the storm. That watch remained in effect through Wednesday evening, Sept. 2. KPRC 2 reported Southeast Texas had picked up 4 to 12 inches of rain in the 24 hours after landfall. Rain bands from Edouard's remnants could dump more than 10 inches along a slim corridor between Liberty and Huntsville on Wednesday, with water rising rapidly on streets and in low-lying areas.

Conroe ISD closed all schools and district offices Wednesday after meeting with the National Weather Service and Montgomery County Emergency Management. Willis ISD also closed Wednesday.

Montgomery County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management Executive Director Jason Millsaps told KPRC 2 on Tuesday that crews had been fueling equipment, ensuring adequate staffing across public safety sectors and coordinating with state partners to bring in boat crews and additional resources.

Entergy urged residents to stay away from downed power lines, avoid walking or driving through floodwaters and keep a safe distance from work crews. Anyone using a generator should follow manufacturer instructions and never run it indoors.

Residents can report downed or damaged power lines by calling 1-800-968-8243. Outage updates are available on Entergy's View Outage map and through the Entergy app.