Houston area preparing for heavy rain, flooding from Imelda

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HOUSTON (AP) — Officials in the Houston area are preparing high-water vehicles and staging rescue boats as Tropical Storm Imelda threatens to dump up to 15 inches of rain in parts of Southeast Texas and southwestern Louisiana over the next few days.

The storm, which formed on Tuesday, made landfall near Freeport, Texas, with maximum sustained winds of 40 mph.

Jeff Lindner, a meteorologist for the Harris County Flood Control District in Houston, said the main threat from Imelda remained the potential for heavy rainfall and flooding.

Some parts of Harris County and neighboring Galveston County had already received 2 to 3 inches of rain through Tuesday morning.

Lindner says while there is the potential for some isolated structure flooding in the Houston area, widespread house flooding “doesn’t look likely at this point.”