Flash flooding in eastern Texas forces hospital evacuation, home rescues

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ABC News(NEW YORK) — Flash floods have dumped more than two feet of rain in parts of Texas, with the National Weather Service issuing a flash flood emergency for some areas along the Gulf Coast.

More than 28 inches of rain has fallen in the town of Hamshire, Texas, southwest of Beaumont, in the 48 hours since Tuesday.

Chambers County Sheriff Brian Hawthorne told ABC News early Thursday morning that the flooding situation in Winnie is “horrible” and “worse than Harvey.”

He said the roads were impassible and the local hospital was being evacuated.

Dump trucks and air boats were being used to get people to safety.

Some homes have four to five feet of water inside, Hawthorne said.

Rainfall rates up to 5” per hour were reported during the overnight hours just south of Beaumont, producing the worst flooding since Harvey, two years ago.

In addition, remnants of Imelda are still sitting over eastern Texas and western Louisiana, being more rain Thursday morning.

Flash flood alerts continue for those areas.

Though Thursday and into Thursday night, remnants of Imelda will slowly track north, spreading rain north into northeastern Texas and northern Louisiana, and possibly into southern Arkansas and Oklahoma.

As much as 10″ of additional rain is expected in eastern Texas as more flash flooding is expected in the next 24 hours.

In the meantime, Hurricane Humberto moved to the north of Bermuda, bringing heavy rain and wind gusts of more than 115 mph to the island.

With Humberto moving away from Bermuda, the hurricane warning has been dropped.

As Humberto moves away from the United States, it will continue to produce huge waves for the entire U.S. East Coast, from West Palm Beach to Maine, where waves could be as high as 6-12 feet.

Also in the Atlantic, Jerry now is a tropical storm with winds of 70 mph. The storm is expected to become hurricane soon.

The good news is that it will stay mostly north of the Caribbean islands, bringing the most northern islands just some gusty winds and rain.

Yet there is more tropical activity forming in tropical Atlantic, with one system right behind Jerry at only 30% development.

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