Houston and surrounding areas are in the middle of an unprecedented flooding emergency as Tropical Storm Harvey continues to spin while sitting nearly stationary in southeast Texas.

The once-fearsome hurricane crashed into vulnerable homes and businesses along the coastline, killing at least three people and injuring up to 14.

A Flash Flood Emergency has been issued for the entire Houston area. The warning was last issued during the Tax Day and Memorial Day floods in 2016. By 4 p.m. Sunday, the National Hurricane Center said Harvey is still a tropical storm and only moving at 2 mph.

ABC13 Chief Meteorologist Tim Heller said the forecast is more concerning. The forecast track moves the center of the storm south toward Matagorda Bay then out over the Gulf of Mexico, but just barely. The NHC said it believes even though the center of the storm will be over water, the system lacks an inner core so significant strengthening is unlikely.

The NHC said it thinks Harvey will still be a tropical storm by the time it tracks across Houston on Wednesday.

Because of the position and track of the storm, the Houston area will experience persistent southeast winds which will feed more moisture into the storm, Heller said. That will continue to produce heavy rain through midweek. He said he predicts another 15-25 inches of rain is likely across the Houston area between Sunday night and Wednesday evening. That would bring the storm total to more than 50 inches in some parts of Houston.



The NHC said the eye of then-Category 4 hurricane made landfall about 10 p.m. on Friday about 30 miles northeast of Corpus Christi between Port Aransas and Port O'Connor, bringing with it 130 mph sustained winds and flooding rains.

Fueled by warm Gulf of Mexico waters, Harvey grew rapidly, accelerating from a Category 1 storm early Friday morning to a Category 4 by evening. Its transformation from an unnamed storm to a life-threatening behemoth took only 56 hours. Although it has weakened considerably, it still poses a threat to flood-prone parts of southeast Texas.

From ABC 13