Tropical Storm Edouard strengthened to 50-mph sustained winds Tuesday morning and is forecast to make landfall near the Texas-Louisiana border Tuesday afternoon, bringing heavy rain to Montgomery County.
The National Weather Service issued a Flood Watch through 7 a.m. Wednesday for Montgomery County and several surrounding counties. The Montgomery County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management said in a Monday, Aug. 31, update that the storm's forecast track puts the system over or near the county overnight Tuesday and into Wednesday.
Rainfall totals for The Woodlands remain uncertain. The Houston Chronicle reported the area could see more than 2 inches. The National Hurricane Center's broader forecast calls for 3 to 6 inches across Southeast Texas, with up to 9 inches possible.
Space City Weather noted that areas west of Interstate 45 are likely to see 0.5 to 2 inches, while areas along and east of I-45 face higher totals. The Woodlands straddles that corridor.
Rainfall rates could reach 3 to 4 inches per hour in the heaviest downpours, CW39 reported, creating a risk for street flooding in low-lying areas.
NWS meteorologist Brian Kyle said Monday, Aug. 31, that inland communities should expect rainfall as the primary impact. "For those folks further inland, metro area and northward, we are looking more of a rainfall impact," Kyle told KERA News.
Entergy Texas activated its emergency operations center and positioned crews and equipment across Southeast Texas ahead of the storm. Stuart Barrett, vice president of customer service for Entergy Texas, said customers should finalize their storm plans and stay in touch with the utility for outage and restoration updates. Customers can report downed power lines at 1-800-968-8243 and track outages at entergy.com/viewoutages.
Gov. Greg Abbott activated more than 1,500 state personnel and emergency rescue equipment ahead of the storm, Fox 26 Houston reported. The State Operations Center was operating around the clock with about 20 state agencies.
Public Utility Commission Chairman Thomas Gleeson confirmed that Entergy, CenterPoint Energy, American Electric Power and Texas-New Mexico Power had all activated emergency operations centers.
As of the NHC's 8 a.m. Tuesday advisory, Edouard was about 40 miles south-southeast of Cameron, Louisiana, and 70 miles southeast of Port Arthur, Texas, moving west-northwest at 8 mph. The storm could approach hurricane strength before landfall but is expected to weaken rapidly once inland, according to the National Hurricane Center.
The Flood Watch expires at 7 a.m. Wednesday, with scattered showers possible as Edouard weakens inland.
