Harvey drenches Louisiana, blasts at Texas chemical plant

35 people are confirmed dead, tens of thousands have been driven from their homes

LAKE CHARLES /HOUSTON: The remnants of tropical storm Harvey drenched northern Louisiana on Thursday as it moved inland, leaving behind record flooding that paralysed 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 km 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 peroxides stored onsite 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 halfcentury.

By Thursday, the storm was downgraded to a tropical depression.

The storm’s rains wrought the most damage along the Gulf Coast, and the National Weather Service warned that as much as 25.4 cm could fall in parts of Mississippi, Tennessee and Kentucky.

The Houston Fire Department will begin a block-by-block effort on Thursday to rescue stranded survivors and recover bodies, assistant fire chief Richard Mann told reporters.

Nearly 76.2 cm 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.

Clear skies in Houston on Wednesday brought relief to the energy hub and fourth-largest US city after five days of catastrophic downpours.

The first flight out of Houston since the storm hit boarded on Wednesday evening.

Police in Houston’s Harris County said 17 people remained missing.