Honestly, if you ask someone in Texas about 2019, they aren’t going to talk about a Category 3 hurricane. They’re going to talk about a "weak" tropical storm that barely had a name before it started drowning their cars. That's the weird thing about the Atlantic. We obsess over the big, spiraling monsters like Hurricane Humberto, but then a messy, disorganized system like Tropical Storm Imelda comes along and causes billions in damage.
It was a strange week in September. Two storms, two totally different personalities, and a whole lot of confusion for anyone trying to keep their basement dry.
The Monster that Missed: Hurricane Humberto
Humberto was the overachiever. By September 18, 2019, it had cranked itself up to a Category 3 major hurricane with winds screaming at 125 mph. If that thing had hit a major U.S. city, we'd still be talking about it in every "top ten" disaster list.
But it didn't.
Instead, Humberto stayed mostly offshore, raking Bermuda with hurricane-force winds but leaving the U.S. mainland relatively alone. It did send some nasty rip currents toward Florida and the Carolinas—and sadly, those killed two people—but as far as the "big one" goes, most Americans just saw it as a blob on the evening news.
It did some real work in Bermuda, though. Imagine losing 90% of your banana crop in one night. That’s what happened there. Plus, 28,000 people lost power. For a small island, that's a massive hit, even if the storm was "just passing by."
🔗 Read more: Nate Silver Trump Approval Rating: Why the 2026 Numbers Look So Different
The "Quiet" Killer: Tropical Storm Imelda
While everyone was staring at the satellite feed of Humberto's massive eye, Imelda was basically a ninja. It formed fast. Super fast.
Basically, it went from a disorganized cluster of clouds to a named tropical storm and then made landfall in Freeport, Texas, all within a few hours. There was almost no lead time. People went to work on a Tuesday morning thinking it was just a rainy day and ended up needing a boat to get home.
Why Imelda was so much worse
You’d think a Cat 3 hurricane would be the more dangerous of the two, right? Nope. Imelda was a "rainmaker." It didn't care about wind speed; it cared about volume.
The storm stalled. It just sat there over Southeast Texas like a guest who won't leave your house. In places like Fannett, Texas, the sky basically fell, dropping 43 inches of rain.
- Fact: Imelda became the 7th wettest tropical cyclone in U.S. history.
- The Reality: 31 inches of that rain fell in just 12 hours.
That is an insane amount of water. Think about your local swimming pool. Now imagine that depth of water falling from the sky across an entire county. It turned I-10 into a parking lot of abandoned, floating cars.
💡 You might also like: Weather Forecast Lockport NY: Why Today’s Snow Isn’t Just Hype
The Weird "Dance" Between Them
There’s this thing called the Fujiwhara effect. It sounds like something out of a sci-fi movie, but it’s just what happens when two tropical systems get too close and start spinning around each other.
Meteorologists were fascinated. While Humberto was a beast in the open Atlantic, its massive circulation actually helped dictate where other systems went. There was a lot of talk about whether these two would "merge" or if the stronger one would just eat the weaker one.
In the end, they didn't collide, but they definitely felt each other's presence. Humberto’s sheer size influenced the atmospheric steering currents. While Imelda was drowning Beaumont and Houston, Humberto was pulling away, eventually dragging its own moisture toward the North Atlantic.
The Damage Nobody Expected
We usually retire hurricane names when they are legendary and deadly. Katrina, Harvey, Ian. But here’s a wild bit of trivia: Imelda was never retired. Despite causing roughly $5 billion in damage and being responsible for five deaths, the name stayed on the list. It’s actually one of the costliest "non-retired" storm names in history. People in Jefferson and Harris counties might find that a bit insulting given they were gutting their houses for the second time in two years (thanks to Harvey).
Why This Still Matters for You
If you live anywhere near a coast, the Imelda/Humberto saga is a massive lesson in not being a "category snob."
📖 Related: Economics Related News Articles: What the 2026 Headlines Actually Mean for Your Wallet
We’ve all done it. We see a "Tropical Storm" warning and think, “Oh, it’s just some wind and rain, I’ll be fine.” But Imelda proved that a weak-looking storm can be more catastrophic than a major hurricane if it moves slowly enough.
What you should actually do next time a "weak" storm is forecast:
- Look at the "Flash Flood" potential, not the wind. If the forecast says the storm is "slow-moving," start worrying.
- Check the rain totals, not the category. A Category 1 that drops 40 inches is a nightmare; a Category 3 that moves at 25 mph is often just a bad afternoon.
- Have an exit route that doesn't rely on low-lying interstates. As we saw on I-10 during Imelda, the highway is the worst place to be when the "stalled" rain starts.
Humberto was the storm that looked scary on paper, but Imelda was the one that actually broke people's hearts and bank accounts. Next time the National Hurricane Center starts talking about a "disorganized system" in the Gulf, don't look at the wind speed. Look at the rain gauges.
Actionable Next Steps:
To protect your home from "Imelda-style" rain events, you should verify your Flood Insurance status immediately, as standard homeowners' insurance rarely covers rising water. Additionally, clear your street's storm drains and gutters before any named system approaches—disorganized storms often cause the most localized urban flooding simply because the water has nowhere to go.