Hurricane Harvey: 3 more days of rain in store for Houston as water keeps rising
The persistent rainfall that started over the weekend is expected to continue.
— -- Hurricane Harvey, which slammed into the Texas coast this weekend and wreaked havoc along the way, has weakened to a tropical storm but not before dropping an improbable 25 inches of rain on Houston in only 36 hours, with more expected.
The deadly storm has moved into the Gulf of Mexico, where it's regained a bit of strength, with max winds of 45 mph, according to ABC News meteorologists. The storm is expected to make landfall again east of Galveston, Texas, on late Tuesday or early Wednesday. It will then speed up and weaken by Thursday into a depression over northern Louisiana.
ABC News meteorologists predict up to 50 total inches of rain in some areas by Thursday.
Anyone looking for a silver lining might find it in the dry air that’s likely to be mixed into the system, which sometimes limits the severity of storms.
Either way, rain bands are expected to rotate around Harvey through eastern Texas and western Louisiana. Six to 12 more inches of rain are expected to fall in Houston over the next three days.
East of the city, closer to Louisiana, an additional 10 to 20 inches of rainfall is possible, meteorologists say.
New Orleans also faces a flood warning
The National Weather Service has issued a flood warning for New Orleans as Harvey passes through the region.
New Orleans, which is vulnerable to flooding, saw pervasive flooding earlier this month after receiving 8 inches of rainfall in parts of Jefferson Parish.