Schools and municipal offices were closed and residents were told to stay at home. Some areas northwest of Beaumont, where the center of the storm passed Tuesday, received between 10 inches and 21 inches of rain in a matter of hours, the National Weather Service and emergency officials said.
The storm was downgraded Tuesday night, hours after making landfall near the Texas-Louisiana border with maximum sustained winds of 60 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. The system was losing strength as it pushed inland but was still producing heavy rains and some flooding Wednesday. It was expected to break up by Wednesday night.
As the center of Edouard passed over Beaumont, Texas, about 80 miles northeast of Houston, it left a path of downed trees blocking roads, traffic signals that weren’t working and flooded underpasses, Beaumont police said in a post on social media. Some drivers were stranded in floodwaters and needed help.
One weather station in Port Arthur, Texas, recorded a 90 mph wind gust Tuesday.
The storm moved north early Wednesday, prompting flood warnings.
“This is a particularly dangerous situation. Seek higher ground now!” the weather service said in a post affecting rural communities in parts of Hardin and Tyler counties in southeast Texas.
