When Harvey comes callin’
A man wading through floodwaters to reach the main road after surveying his property that was hit by Hurricane Harvey in Rockport, Texas. (Inset) A damaged car outside an almostdestroyed apartment complex in the same area.
HOUSTON: Tropical Storm Harvey unleashed catastrophic flooding in Houston, turning streets in Texas’ largest city into raging rivers as trapped residents climbed to higher floors and the death toll rose.
Overwhelmed emergency services warned residents to head for high ground or climb onto rooftops – not into attics – so they could be seen by rescue helicopters.
“It is bad and growing worse,” said Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who said the storm had inflicted billions of dollars in damage in the Lone Star state.
At least two people have died since Harvey crashed ashore late Friday as a Category 4 hurricane, spawning tornadoes and lashing east and central Texas with torren- tial rains.
In Houston, a woman drowned when she left a car after it stalled in high water, local media reported, citing police.
Local officials said one person was killed when a house caught fire in the Rockport area, where Harvey made landfall with sustained winds of 215kph per hour.
The National Weather Service said more than 600mm of rain fell in Houston in a 24-hour period, and flooding was expected to worsen as the most powerful storm to hit the United States since 2005 lingers over the area.
Harvey slowly weakened as it advanced, but it had the power to rip off roofs, flip mobile homes and leave hundreds of thousands of people in the dark on the Gulf Coast, home to some of the country’s most important oil refineries.
More than a dozen tornado warnings were issued overnight for southeast Texas, including several in the Houston area.
In Houston, a city of 2.3 million, streets turned into fast-moving rivers with officials warning residents to stay home.
“If the highest floor of your home becomes dangerous ... get on the roof!” the city’s emergency management agency warned in a bulletin.
Abbott said National Guard troops were deployed overnight in the city, using high-clearance vehicles to help with rescues in inundated areas. — AFP