Tropical Depression Edouard has left more than 70,000 customers without power across Southeast Texas as it pushes inland, swamping the region with heavy rain and flash flooding.
The system made landfall as a tropical storm near Johnson Bayou, Louisiana, about 15 miles south-southeast of Port Arthur, Texas, at 2:20 p.m. Tuesday, packing maximum sustained winds of 60 mph and a minimum central pressure of 996 mb, according to the National Hurricane Center. Edouard was downgraded to a tropical depression by 10 p.m. That night.
A Flash Flood Emergency for life-threatening flooding was issued for parts of Hardin and Tyler counties shortly after 5:45 a.m. Wednesday. The National Weather Service said 10 to 21 inches of rain had fallen across that area by early Wednesday and urged people in the Kountze, Village Mills and Honey Island communities to seek higher ground immediately.
Kountze city officials said on social media that power lines were down and flooding was ongoing early Wednesday, and asked people to avoid travel.
The Woodville Independent School District and several others nearby canceled school Wednesday morning. The Port Arthur Independent School District announced it will remain closed Wednesday to assess damage to infrastructure. Beaumont said city facilities would not open until noon Wednesday while crews worked to clear debris.
A top wind gust of 90 mph was recorded in Port Arthur, with two other hurricane-force gusts measured in the area Tuesday. City emergency management officials said they were investigating widespread reports of a gas odor across parts of the city as the storm came ashore.
Both the city and Jefferson County issued disaster declarations ahead of the storm to help speed up anticipated cleanup. The Jefferson County Commissioner shared video of downed trees that had taken down power lines late Tuesday, and asked people to stay off the roads.
A Flood Watch remains in effect for much of the region through Wednesday evening, including Houston, while a Flash Flood Warning was in effect early Wednesday for Hardin, Jefferson, Tyler, Chambers, Liberty, Polk and San Jacinto counties.
According to the FOX Forecast Center, the heaviest rain will fall inland in Texas through midday Wednesday as the storm’s center moves inland, somewhat paralleling the Interstate 45 corridor.
“The highest rain totals will be somewhere north and east of the Houston Metro and east of I-45,” the FOX Forecast Center said.
“The rain totals could be as high as 8-10 inches in some spots, but most will see a generous 3-5 inches of rain.”
NOAA’s Weather Prediction Center has issued a Level 3 out of 4 flash flood risk for a narrow corridor east of I-45 from Livingston to just north of Palestine.
Tropical Storm Edouard strengthened before making landfall Tuesday afternoon.
“As it neared the coast, the inner core was able to form only a segment of an eyewall on the southwest side of the storm,” the FOX Forecast Center said.
“In this very small segment, tall thunderstorms formed over the center, allowing for winds to pick up from 40 mph to 60 mph.”
Edouard developed quickly from a cluster of thunderstorms in the northern Gulf Friday evening. The cluster was tagged as Invest 97L on Saturday afternoon, then strengthened from a Potential Tropical Cyclone to a full-blown tropical storm within nine hours on Monday.
This marks the third landfall of the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season. The previous two tropical storms also came ashore along the northwestern Gulf Coast: Arthur near Matagorda County, Texas, on June 17, and Bertha in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, on July 22.