Although Tropical Depression Imelda steered mostly clear of Spring and Klein as it pummeled parts of Southeast Texas with as much as 42 inches of rain Sept. 17-20, the community’s eastern edge still felt the effects of the storm. While western portions of Spring near Hwy. 249 received about 5 inches of rain throughout the course of the storm, those rainfall totals continued to climb eastward where Cypresswood Drive and Cypress Creek meet, where more than 14 inches of rain fell, according to rain gauge data from the Harris County Flood Warning System. In that same area, the Spring Fire Department rescued nearly 100 people due to flooding on Sept. 19, SFD Chief Scott Seifert said. “Imelda put our firefighters and our department’s heavy utility trucks to the test,” he said. “We are proud of our team for rescuing more than 100 people here in Spring and about 125 more in northeast Montgomery County.” Although Mike Gosselin, Klein Volunteer Fire Department chief, said his department did not have to make any high-water rescues, it still assisted with transporting stranded motorists to higher ground in areas outside its typical coverage area, such as the Aldine area. Likewise, Precinct 4 Constable Mark Herman said officers in his department assisted during the storm by blocking off flooded roads and staging high water rescue equipment in flood-prone areas. During the storm, Spring ISD was put on a shelter-in-place Sept. 19 and canceled classes Sept. 20. “Some water entered under doorways at a few campuses, although not enough to cause serious damage, and roof leaks at some campuses caused wet ceiling tiles that needed to be replaced,” SISD Communications Director Karen Garrison said. “Our maintenance crews immediately began making repairs, and we were able to continue holding classes in all of our facilities.” Garrison added while the district had only received one report of a student’s home that flooded, the district received several reports of employees whose homes had flooded. According to FWS data, the stream elevation at the Cypress Creek/Cypresswood Drive gauge reached 67.98 feet—less than a foot below what the Harris County Flood Control District considers to be a 10-year flood, or a flood that has a 10% chance to occur in a given year. By comparison, the stream reached 80.5 feet during Hurricane Harvey. The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced  Oct. 4 that the entity will be offering assistance to residents of Harris and Montgomery counties who were affected by Tropical Depression Imelda and that applications can be submitted through Dec. 3. While preliminary assessments indicate approximately 2,000 damaged properties had been reported as of Sept. 23—with 540 of those properties located in unincorporated Harris County—county officials said those numbers are expected to grow.