Forecasters expect rain chances to drop by half Wednesday afternoon as Beta continues to weaken and moves northeast towards Louisiana.
The upper Texas coast could see an additional 3 to 5 inches of rainfall with isolated storm totals of up to 15 inches on Wednesday, according to the National Hurricane Center. As the day continues, local forecasts have the chance of rain dropping from 60% to 30%.
Local National Weather Service meteorologists discontinued the flash flood watch for southeast Texas overnight. Now a post-tropical cyclone, Beta brought record amounts of rainfall to the Houston area and flooded multiple area roadways and low-lying areas.
Street flooding in Houston led to nearly 100 water rescues on roadways Monday night and Tuesday, according to the Houston Fire Department.
The City of Houston saw 3.58 inches of rainfall on Tuesday, breaking a previous record of 3.15 inches. Rain gauges at Houston’s Hobby airport received 7.32 inches, nearly double the previous daily rainfall record and the largest single day total at the site since Harvey, according to the National Weather Service Houston/Galveston office.
#Beta brought new daily rainfall records yesterday to:
– City of Houston with 3.58″ breaking their old record of 3.15″ (1965).
– Houston-Hobby with 7.32″ shattering their old record of 3.86″ (1997) – this was also largest single day total at the site since Harvey.#TXwx #HOUwx pic.twitter.com/AKeEorRc3R— NWS Houston (@NWSHouston) September 23, 2020
All lanes of Highway 288 have reopened after being shut down in both directions Tuesday because of high water, according to the Houston Police Department.
METRO is resuming service on bus routes, the Red, Green, and Purple rail lines, Park and Ride service to the Texas Medical Center, and the METRORapid Silver Line, though detours and delays are possible. METROLift is operational but may not be able to reach some users.
Residents within a half-mile of wastewater spills in Downtown Houston and Woodland Park are being asked to boil water if they use private water wells. Houston Public Works reported more than 100,000 gallons of domestic wastewater spilled in five locations Tuesday due to Tropical Storm Beta. Residents with water service provided by the City of Houston do not need to boil water, according to Public Works. Officials say they are monitoring the situation and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has been notified.
Houston can expect a high of 80 degrees on Wednesday with a slight chance of showers. The low for tonight is 68 degrees, with a partly sunny sky expected on Thursday.
Houston Public Media reporter Matt Harab also contributed to this report.