Harvey drenches Louisiana
Leaves behind record flooding, paralyzes US energy hub
The remnants of Tropical Storm Harvey drenched northern Louisiana on Thursday as it moved inland, leaving behind record flooding that paralyzed the US energy hub of Houston, killed at least 35 people and drove tens of thousands from their homes.
Two explosions were reported at a flood- hit chemical plant in Crosby, Texas, 48 kilometers northeast of Houston, with one sheriff’s deputy sent to the hospital after inhaling toxic chemicals.
The Arkema SA plant had lost power as a result of the storm, causing the organic per- oxides stored on site to warm to combustible levels. The company urged people to stay away from the area, warning that further blasts were likely.
The death toll was rising as bodies were found in receding waters. Some 32,000 people were forced into shelters around the region since the storm came ashore on Friday near Rockport, Texas, as the most powerful hurricane to hit the state in a half- century.
By Thursday, the storm was downgraded to a tropical depression. Maximum sustained winds were 48 kilometers per hour at 4 am CDT, when Har- vey was located about 24 kilometers south of Monroe, Louisiana.
The storm’s rains wrought the most damage along the Gulf Coast, and the National Weather Service warned that as much as 25.4 centimeters could fall in parts of Mississippi, Tennessee and Kentucky.
The Houston Fire Department will begin a block- byblock effort on Thursday to rescue stranded survivors and recover bodies, Assistant Fire Chief Richard Mann told reporters.
Nearly 76.2 centimeters of rain hit the Port Arthur, Texas, area, the National Weather Service said.
“Our whole city is underwater,” said Port Arthur Mayor Derrick Foreman in a social media post where he also broadcast live video of floodwaters filling his home in the city of 55,000 people, about 160 kilometers east of Houston.
Beaumont, near Port Arthur, said it had lost its water supply due to flood damage to its main pumping station. Residents in the city of about 120,000 people would lose water pressure from Thursday morning.