LIVINGSTON, Texas (AP) — Texas authorities rescued dozens of people from stranded cars, homes surrounded by floodwaters and an assisted living facility Wednesday as former Tropical Storm Edouard lingered over rural parts of the state and dumped nearly 2 feet of rain in some places.
Heavy rains from the storm, which weakened into a tropical depression after making landfall Tuesday, were expected to threaten the eastern part of the state through Thursday morning, the National Weather Service said.
Meanwhile, a burst of tropical weather persisted in the Pacific Ocean, where two hurricanes and a strengthening tropical storm were churning in open waters.
In Texas’ hard-hit Hardin County, about 85 miles (137 kilometers) northeast of Houston, officials said flooding, downed trees and powerlines, debris, and power outages were still creating hazardous conditions.
Between 18 inches (45 centimeters) and 20 inches (51 centimeters) fell in parts of the county over the last two days, the weather service said. The average local monthly rainfall for September is just 5.51 inches (14 centimeters), said Nick Slaughter, a meteorologist with the weather service.
Across the area close to the Louisiana border, schools and municipal offices were closed, and residents were told to stay home.
Hardin County’s office of emergency management said Wednesday afternoon that 12 motorists had to be rescued after driving into flooded roadways, two people had to be rescued from a flooded home, about 10 structures were damaged by trees and thousands were still without power by late Wednesday afternoon.
In Jefferson County, located about 80 miles (130 kilometers) northeast of Houston, the main concern was restoring power after trees and limbs were brought down during the storm, which had wind gusts up to 90 mph (144 kph), said Robert Grimm, the county emergency management coordinator. About 22,000 customers in the county were without power as of late Wednesday afternoon, nearly half of the 50,000 utility customers affected statewide, according to poweroutage.com.
Grady Leger said that as the storm moved through Hardin County on Tuesday evening, a powerline went down by his home near Lumberton, and he could feel the vibration coming up from the ground.
“Some blue and yellow, white sparks caught part of my dead tree on fire,” Leger said.
An assisted living facility was damaged in Hardin County, and 21 people were evacuated, according to Texas Parks and Wildlife, whose game wardens assisted. Photos from the agency showed some officials wading in thigh-deep water in parts of the county.
Edouard is expected to dissipate Thursday.
Tropical Storm Marie was well offshore of southwest Mexico in the Pacific and was expected to become a hurricane Wednesday, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said.
Swells generated by the storm were expected to affect parts of coastal southwestern Mexico and the Baja California peninsula over the next few days. They will likely spread to southern California over the weekend, the center said.
Hurricane Lowell strengthened to a Category 5 storm hundreds of miles south of Hawaii on Wednesday and was expected to remain powerful over the next several days. Swells generated by Lowell are likely to affect portions of the Hawaiian islands beginning Wednesday, the center said.
Regarding Marie and Lowell, swells “are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions,” the center said.
Elsewhere in the Pacific, Hurricane Karina strengthened into a powerful Category 4 storm. Forecasters said it should weaken over the next few days.
___
Stengle reported from Dallas. Associated Press journalists Anna Wilder in Austin, Texas, Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire, Dave Collins in Hartford, Connecticut, Julie Walker in New York and Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed to this report.
