Heavy rains return Sunday night, force series of evacuations

Evacuation areas as of Monday, Aug. 28, 2017. https://fbcgis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=d1a054f74789410bbe35bed305c81841 Evacuation areas as of Monday, Aug. 28, 2017. https://fbcgis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=d1a054f74789410bbe35bed305c81841 Photo: FBCGIS Photo: FBCGIS Image 1 of / 119 Caption Close Heavy rains return Sunday night, force series of evacuations 1 / 119 Back to Gallery

Heavy rainfall between 3 to 4 inches Sunday night forced regional authorities to issue a series of mandatory and voluntary evacuations, asking residents in impacted areas to leave overnight or early Monday morning.

The lingering rains left by the remnants of Hurricane Harvey returned by 9 p.m. with portions of west and central Harris County experiencing unprecedented flooding, according to the National Weather Service.

The threat of structural damage, a bridge collapsing and levees overflowing have officials worried that more residents will become trapped by the storm if they don't take action.

DAM OPENED: Army Corps of Engineers has begun releasing water from Addicks

The weather service issued a flash flood watch for the region late Sunday, lasting through

Wednesday or possibly Thursday.

The service noted that "epic and catastrophic flooding" that had occurred in and around the

Houston and Galveston areas and surrounding communities could get worse as additional life-threatening rainfall totals of 15 to 25 inches with isolated higher amount were possible over the next several days.

"If these amounts materialize, the results could be devastating, especially if any of these rains fall where catastrophic flooding has already occurred," according to the weather service.

The first of several voluntary evacuations came Sunday afternoon when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers expressed concerns over the amount of water Addicks and Barker reservoirs were absorbing from Fort Bend and northern Harris County rivers and stream.

HARVEY'S IMPACT: Evacuations, economic impacts, alerts

After Hurricane Harvey - later downgraded to a tropical storm - hit Houston heavy rains caused the dams to swell and spill over into communities upstream.

Jeff Lindner, a meteorologist with the Harris County Flood Control District, suggested that if residents decide to leave, they should do it by Monday morning. Thousands of homes could be at risk, he said.

Hours later, weather officials expected Cypress Creek near Interstate 45 to top the levee by Monday morning, impacting nearly 200 homes.

Harris County Flood Control officials issued a voluntary evacuation advisory for residents of the Inverness Forest subdivision for all streets north of Whitestone Lane, including East and West Greenbrook Drive and Kenchester drive.

In Conroe, the San Jacinto Water Authority released record amounts of water from the Lake Conroe Dam, prompting the city of Conroe to call for immediate evacuations from McDade Estates and other neighborhoods affected by the release of the water just before 2 a.m. Monday.

RESERVOIR RELEASE: Addicks and Barker to flow into Buffalo Bayou

Spring Creek, running along north Harris and south Montgomery counties, was in major flood stage Sunday evening and was expected to crest late Monday, putting residents of more than two dozen neighborhoods in The Woodlands and Spring areas on either side of I-45 at risk.

Montgomery County officials asked residents in flood-prone areas near the creek to consider safely evacuating Sunday afternoon.

In Rosenberg, residents of homes on Huntington Road near the Brazos River were ordered to evacuate due to fears that the bridge leading out of the community would fail.

Fort Bend County Judge Robert Hebert issued a mandatory evacuation order for low-lying parts of the county near the Brazos River that were affected by the Memorial Day floods in 2016. The order applies to about 50,000 people. Additional voluntary evacuations in the county for residents who could be stuck in their homes for multiple days could bring the total number of evacuees from Fort Bend to 130,000, or about 20 percent of the county's total population.

To find out if you are in the evacuation zones, look here.

This story is developing.