Updated
Updated · CNN · Aug 31
Edouard Triggers Rare Level 4 Flood Risk in Texas After Dumping Up to 21 Inches
Updated
Updated · CNN · Aug 31

Edouard Triggers Rare Level 4 Flood Risk in Texas After Dumping Up to 21 Inches

3 articles · Updated · CNN · Aug 31

Summary

  • Eastern Texas remained under a rare Level 4-of-4 flood risk after Edouard dumped an estimated 10 to 21 inches of rain, with some spots seeing a month’s rainfall in one hour.
  • Another 6 inches or more could fall into Thursday, and the Weather Prediction Center warned of considerable to locally catastrophic flash flooding even after a flash flood emergency expired late Wednesday morning.
  • Hardin County rescued about a dozen motorists, two people from a flooded home and evacuated 21 non-ambulatory residents from a damaged assisted living facility; neighboring Polk County helped five people, including children, leave a water-ringed mobile home.
  • More than 7 million people were under flood watches across eastern Texas, while strong winds from Edouard’s landfall near the Texas-Louisiana border left over 50,000 homes and businesses without power.
  • Edouard is expected to dissipate over eastern Texas by Thursday morning, but saturated ground leaves areas vulnerable to renewed flooding and a Level 3 flood risk shifts toward the Palestine, Texas, area.

Insights

With 70,000 without power and the ground saturated, what hidden dangers threaten Texas even after Edouard dissipates?
What happens when a month of rain falls in an hour, and why were dozens trapped despite rare warnings?
How did a catastrophic storm slip through the cracks of an unusually quiet, El Niño-suppressed hurricane season?