A man wades out through floodwaters caused by heavy rain spawned by Tropical Depression Imelda inundated the area on Sept. 19, 2019, in Patton Village, Texas. (Photo: Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP)
By Thursday night, floodwaters had started receding in most of the Houston area, said the city's mayor, Sylvester Turner. Law enforcement officers planned to work well into the night to clear freeways of vehicles stalled and abandoned because of flooding, Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said.
Officials in Harris County, which includes Houston, said there had been a combination of at least 1,700 high-water rescues and evacuations to get people to shelter as the longevity and intensity of the rain quickly came to surprise even those who had been bracing for floods. The storm also flooded parts of southwestern Louisiana.
More than 900 flights were canceled or delayed in Houston. Further along the Texas Gulf Coast, authorities at one point warned that a levee could break near Beaumont in Jefferson County. During Harvey, Beaumont's only pump station was swamped by floodwaters, leaving residents without water service for more than a week.
Imelda's remnants Thursday led to the deaths of two men. A 19-year-old man drowned and was electrocuted while trying to move his horse to safety, according to a message from his family shared by the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office. Crystal Holmes, a spokeswoman for the department, said the death occurred during a lightning storm.
Jade McLain carries Thor out of a boat as she and Fred Stewart were rescued from their flooded neighborhood inundated by rains from Tropical Depression Imelda by Splendora Police officers on Thursday, Sept. 19, 2019, in Spendora, Texas. (Photo: Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP)
Felipe Morales works on getting his truck out of a ditch filled with high water during a rain storm stemming from rain bands spawned by Tropical Storm Imelda on Sept. 17, 2019, in Houston. (Photo: Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP)
Angel Marshman wades through floodwaters from Tropical Depression Imelda after trying to start his flooded car, Sept. 18, 2019, in Galveston, Texas. (Photo: David J. Phillip/AP)
Cars drive on a flooded street in Sargent, Texas, as seen in this aerial photo, Sept. 18, 2019. (Photo: Mark Mulligan/Houston Chronicle via AP)
Splendora Police Lt. Troy Teller, left, Cpl. Jacob Rutherford and Mike Jones pull a boat carrying Anita McFadden and Fred Stewart from their flooded neighborhood inundated by rain from Tropical Depression Imelda on Thursday, Sept. 19, 2019, in Spendora, Texas. (Photo: Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP)
Levi Kelley's cat, named Cat, meows as Kelley shelters him from the rain with his jacket. as the two were rescued from their RV after water trapped them in Sept. 19, 2019, in Vidor, Texas, following flooding from Tropical Depression Imelda. (Photo: Ryan Welch/The Beaumont Enterprise via AP)
Splendora Police officers Lt. Troy Teller, left, and Cpl. Jacob Rutherford guide a boat carrying Maria, Ramiro, Jr., Ramiro and and Veronica Lopez from their flooded neighborhood inundated by rains from Tropical Depression Imelda inundates the area on Sept. 19, 2019, in Spendora, Texas. (Photo: Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP)
A man sits on top of a truck on a flooded road, Sept. 19, 2019, in Houston. Members of the Houston Fire Dept. brought him a life jacket and walked him to dry land. Throughout Texas and Louisiana, the remains of Tropical Depression Imelda kept bringing rains and flooding. (Photo: Melissa Phillip/Houston Chronicle via AP)
A truck sits largely submerged in floodwater in front of a church on Sept. 19, 2019, in Vidor, Texas, following flooding from Tropical Depression Imelda. (Photo: Ryan Welch/The Beaumont Enterprise via AP)
Jim Dunagan moves his cattle to higher ground as remnants of Tropical Depression Imelda flood parts of Southeast Texas, Sept. 19, 2019, near Nome, Texas. (Photo: Jon Shapley/Houston Chronicle via AP)
A flooded out car is stranded in high water off U.S. 59 as rain from Tropical Depression Imelda inundated the area on Sept. 19, 2019, near Spendora, Texas. (Photo: Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP)
Donnie McCulley rescues an armadillo from a flooded neighborhood caused by heavy rain spawned by Tropical Depression Imelda on Sept. 19, 2019, in Patton Village. (Photo: Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP)
People wait outside of their stranded vehicles along Interstate 10 westbound at T.C Jester, Sept. 19, 2019. The freeway is closed because of high water east bound on the freeway. (Photo: Mark Mulligan/Houston Chronicle via AP)
Several cars were flooded along Interstate 10 in Southeast Texas, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2019, due to Tropical Storm Imelda. (Photo: Guiseppe Barranco/The Beaumont Enterprise via AP)
A man makes his way under the I-10 overpass where several roads remained heavily flooded throughout the afternoon, Sept. 19, 2019 in Beaumont, Texas. (Photo: Kim Brent/The Beaumont Enterprise via AP)
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