Triple threat: Tropical Storm Imelda swamps Texas, Humberto nears Bermuda and TD 10 forms in Atlantic

• Humberto is strengthening as it approaches Bermuda.
• Tropical Depression Ten could become Tropical Storm Jerry later today.
• Tropical Storm Imelda will bring dangerous flash flooding to Texas.

A trio of tropical threats has emerged in the Atlantic basin, and forecasters are keeping a close watch.  

Tropical Storm Imelda threatens to swamp portions of southeastern Texas with more than a foot of rain this week, possibly leading to dangerous, life-threatening flash floods.

Although the storm officially made landfall Tuesday afternoon, enough rainfall is still forecast to cause significant street, highway and low-lying area flooding along the Gulf Coast of Texas, AccuWeather said. This includes the cities of Beaumont, Houston, Galveston, Matagorda, Victoria and Corpus Christi, Texas.

"Rainfall rates of 1 to 3 inches per hour and potentially saturated soils from the precipitation that falls today will continue the threat of flash flooding into Thursday," the National Weather Service in Houston said Tuesday.

A flash flood watch has been posted across the entire Houston metro area, the weather service said.

In addition to the likelihood of flooding, some of the thunderstorms can be robust with strong wind gusts, according to AccuWeather. A couple of the strongest thunderstorms could produce a waterspout or tornado.

The hurricane center said Tuesday night that Imelda had maximum sustained winds of 35 mph and was moving north at 6 mph.

Even though it's only a tropical storm, it can still be a big threat. Some of the most disastrous flooding in that region has come from storms that were no longer hurricanes like Tropical Storm Allison in 2001 and the remnants of Hurricane Harvey in 2017, noted University of Georgia meteorologist Marshall Shepherd.

Hurricane Humberto

Bermuda was under a hurricane warning on Tuesday night as Humberto strengthened to a Category 3 major hurricane and closed in on the tiny island.

"Humberto is likely to track near Bermuda by later Wednesday, potentially bringing strong winds, battering surf and heavy rain," the Weather Channel said.

As of 11 p.m. EDT, Humberto had 115-mph winds and was located about 370 miles west of Bermuda. It was moving to the east-northeast at 12 mph.

Officials in Bermuda said Tuesday that schools, public transportation and government offices on the British Atlantic territory will close early ahead of the likely arrival of the hurricane.

National Security Minister Wayne Caines told reporters that schools, government offices and ferries on the island would close at noon Wednesday and bus service would end at 4 p.m.

The hurricane will also continue to generate high surf and dangerous rip currents along the Southeast U.S. coast, the National Hurricane Center warned. 

Tropical Depression Ten

Meanwhile, Tropical Depression Ten formed Tuesday morning in the central Atlantic Ocean about halfway between Africa and South America, the hurricane center said. It was located 1,110 miles from the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean.

The system should become Tropical Storm Jerry in the next day or so and track north of the Caribbean islands as a hurricane by the weekend. The depression is still too far away for forecasters to determine whether it will have any impact on the United States.

Contributing: The Associated Press