A rapidly developing system strengthened into Tropical Depression Eleven Tuesday at Noon CDT and one hour later was dubbed Tropical Storm Imelda. The Houston area and other places in eastern Texas are bracing for up to 18 inches of rain.

The development of Imelda occurred just a few hours after Tropical Depression Ten formed over the central Atlantic.

"The center of the Gulf system is forecast to move onshore by Tuesday night," according to AccuWeather Hurricane Expert Dan Kottlowski.

Once Imelda moves inland, the strengthening process will end and gradual weakening will commence. However, torrential rainfall will be unleashed.

Regardless of the official designation of the storm near the Texas coast, enough rain is forecast to fall to cause significant street, highway and low-lying area flooding from southern Louisiana to the middle of the Texas coast. This includes the cities of Lake Charles, Louisiana, to Beaumont, Houston, Galveston, Matagorda, Victoria and Corpus Christi, Texas, this week.