Water release could keep 20,000 homes flooded

City plans release of water from reservoir

HOUSTON • Nearly a week after Harvey crashed into the Texas coastline, the storm chased more people out of their homes Friday after dumping heavy rain on Louisiana, and Houston planned a water release that could keep as many as 20,000 homes flooded for up to 15 days.

In another Texas city with no drinking water, people waited in a line that stretched for more than a mile to get bottled water.

Residents of the stillflooded western part of Houston were told Friday to evacuate ahead of the planned release from two reservoirs protecting downtown. The move was expected to flood homes that were inundated earlier in the week. Homes that are not currently flooded probably will not be affected, officials said.

Mayor Sylvester Turner pleaded for more high-water vehicles and more searchand-rescue equipment as the nation’s fourth-largest city continued looking for any survivors or corpses that might have somehow escaped notice in flood-ravaged neighbourhoods.

Turner also asked the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide more workers to process applications from thousands of people seeking government help. Harvey victims expect FEMA to work “with the greatest degree of urgency,” he told CBS’ This Morning.

The mayor said he will request a preliminary financial aid package of $75 million for debris removal alone.

The remnants of the storm were dying as they pushed deeper inland but remained still powerful enough to raise the risk of flooding as far north as Kentucky.

The city of Beaumont, home to almost 120,000 people near the Texas Louisiana line, was trying to bring in enough bottled water for people who stayed behind after a water pumping station was overwhelmed by the swollen Neches River.

In Houston, officials turned their attention to immediate needs such as finding temporary housing for those in shelters, but also to the city’s long-term recovery, which will take years and billions of dollars.

Authorities raised the death toll from the storm to 39 late Thursday, while rescue workers conducted a block-by-block search of tens of thousands of Houston homes that rescuers began Thursday.

The latest statewide damage surveys revealed the staggering extent of the destruction.

An estimated 136,000 structures in Harris County, or 10 per cent of all structures in the county database, were flooded, according to the flood control district for the county, which includes Houston.

The Texas Department of Public Safety said more than 37,000 homes were heavily damaged and nearly 7,000 were destroyed, figures that did not include the tens of thousands of homes with minor damage. About 325,000 people have already sought federal emergency aid in the wake of Harvey. More than $57 million in individual assistance has already been paid out, FEMA officials said.

Houston Fire Chief Sam Pena said his department had responded to nearly 16,000 calls since the storm hit Saturday, over 7,600 of them for water rescues.

The search for more survivors and bodies began Thursday when more than 200 firefighters, police officers and members of an urban search-and-rescue team fanned out across the Meyerland neighbourhood. They yelled “Fire department!” as they pounded with closed fists on doors, peered through windows and checked with neighbours.

“We don’t think we’re going to find any humans, but we’re prepared if we do,” said District Chief James Pennington of the Houston Fire Department.

Unlike during Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath in New Orleans, crews used GPS devices to log the homes they checked rather than painting neon X’s on the outside. That avoided alerting potential thieves to vacant homes.

Gov. Greg Abbott warned Friday in an interview with ABC’s Good Morning America that it could take years for Texas to “dig out from this catastrophe.” President Donald Trump tweeted that there’s still “so much to do” in Texas’ recovery.

Harris County FEMA Director Tom Fargione said the agency was looking for ways to house people who lost their homes to Harvey, with 32,000 people reported in shelters across Texas. Some evacuees had begun returning to their homes, but the George R. Brown Convention Center, where 10,000 people took shelter, still housed 8,000 evacuees late Thursday.

Authorities were also monitoring a flood-crippled chemical plant near Houston, where the loss of power set off explosions and a fire Thursday.

The blasts at the Arkema Inc. plant northeast of Houston sent up a plume of acrid black smoke that stung the eyes and lungs. The plant’s owners warned more explosions could follow because a loss of refrigeration was causing chemicals stored there to degrade and burn.

With widespread reports of gas shortages, Energy Secretary Rick Perry said he would release 500,000 barrels of crude oil from an emergency stockpile in a bid to prevent gasoline prices from spiking.