Flooding from Imelda shuts down I-10 in Texas

Heavy rain and flooding from Tropical Depression Imelda resulted in multiple closures of Interstate 10 in Texas on Friday.

The Texas Department of Transportation was reporting the interstate closed between Beaumont and Winnie with no estimate as to when it would re-open. The interstate was also closed near Houston at the Crosby Lynchburg Bridge after several barges broke away from their moorings and at least one struck the bridge.

Flooding has stranded dozens of drivers along highways in Texas. News station KHOU in Houston captured dramatic footage on Thursday of a truck driver heading into high water on U.S. 59 North on the beltway. The driver was stranded and had to be rescued by bystanders on a nearby overpass.

Here’s edited sequence of the rescue of a truck driver who drove into high water at 59N/beltway.

I called 911, lines were busy.

Thank goodness people were there to help!

THIS IS WHY WE TELL YOU TO TURN AROUND, DON’T DROWN & TO KEEP AN EMERGENCY KIT HANDY#khou11 pic.twitter.com/dzlKU8MLH1

— Melissa Correa (@KHOUmelissa) September 19, 2019

Another video from FOX 26 in Houston showed several people standing on a flatbed trailer on Interstate 45 as rescuers on an overpass above lowered a ladder to help get them to safety.

OOIDA Board Member Danny Schnautz, who is based in the Houston area, said ports and warehouses closed early on Thursday. More rain pounded the area on Friday afternoon.

“Some facilities (already) had water in them, or still standing in the lots, and that affects normal shipping and receiving,” he said in an email to Land Line. “This creates a backup of shipping and receiving, which historically we have seen take more than a week for things to get back to normal.”

Imelda made landfall as a tropical storm before weakening to a tropical depression. The storm dumped as much as 45 inches of rain on parts of Texas and Louisiana. The National Weather Service said around 2 to 3 inches of additional rainfall was expected on Friday.

I-29 closed in Iowa again due to flooding

In other flooding-related news, Interstate 29 north of Council Bluffs, Iowa, was closed on Friday due to flooding.

The Iowa DOT was reporting the road closed between Exit 61 near Crescent and Exit 71 just south of Loveland. A detour was put in place using Interstates 680 and 80. There is no timetable for when the road may be reopened.

That same stretch of highway was shut down in multiple locations for more than two months earlier this year due to flooding brought on by heavy spring rains.

News anchor Terry Scruton contributed to this report.