NEW YORK (NYTIMES) - Tropical Depression Imelda hit Houston on Tuesday evening (Sept 17), bringing heavy rains and warnings of "life-threatening flash flooding", and prompting some schools to cancel classes.
The National Hurricane Centre said that Imelda was expected to dump 15.24-30.48cm as it slowly moved through the region. Up to 45.72cm of rain could fall in some pockets, the centre said.
"Travel will be hazardous this evening, and flooding in urban, low-lying, and poor drainage areas is anticipated," the National Weather Service in Houston posted on Twitter on Tuesday afternoon.
At 8pm on Tuesday, Imelda was just north of Houston and was moving toward the north at 11.26kmh.
Forecasts projected heavy rains through Thursday evening, according to Space City Weather, a Houston weather news website.
The Galveston Independent School District and the Texas City Independent School District said that they had cancelled classes on Wednesday.
Other Houston-area school districts said that they were monitoring weather forecasts before making decisions to close their doors.
The area is still recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Harvey, which lingered over the city as a tropical storm in August 2017. Heavy rain, high winds and tornadoes levelled entire neighbourhoods.
Hundreds of kilometres to the east, Humberto became a Category 3 hurricane and was expected to wallop Bermuda by Wednesday afternoon, according to the National Hurricane Centre.
"Winds are expected to first reach tropical-storm strength by Wednesday afternoon, making outside preparations difficult or dangerous," the hurricane centre said.
"Preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion."
Storm surge and heavy waves could bring coastal flooding on Wednesday night along Bermuda's southern coast, the centre said.
Farther south-east of Humberto, the hurricane centre said Tropical Depression 10 was strengthening and was expected to become a hurricane when it approaches the Leeward Islands on Thursday night and Friday.
