Harvey havoc
Authorities worry the worst is yet to come with more rain expected
Monster storm Harvey continues to devastate swathes of Texas and is expected to linger over the area.
HOUSTON: Crews overwhelmed by thousands of rescue calls during one of the heaviest downpours in US history have had little time to search for other potential victims, but officials acknowledge the grim reality that fatalities linked to Harvey could soar once the devastating floodwaters recede from one of America’s most sprawling metropolitan centres.
More than three days after the storm ravaged the Texas coastline as a Category 4 hurricane, authorities had confirmed only three deaths – including a woman killed on Monday when heavy rains dislodged a large oak tree onto her trailer home in the small town of Porter. But unconfirmed reports of others missing or presumed dead are growing.
“We know in these kinds of events that, sadly, the death toll goes up historically,” Houston police Chief Art Acevedo said.
“I’m really worried about how many bodies we’re going to find.”
One Houston woman said on Monday that she presumes six members of a family, including four of her grandchildren, died after their van sank into Greens Bayou in East Houston, though Houston emergency officials couldn’t confirm the deaths.
The disaster is unfolding on an epic scale, with the nation’s fourth largest city mostly paralysed by the storm that has parked itself over the Gulf Coast.
With nearly 61cm of rain expected on top of the 76cm in some places, authorities are worried the worst is yet to come.
The storm is generating an amount of rain that would normally be seen only once in more than 1,000 years, said Edmond Russo, a deputy district engineer for the Army Corps of Engineers, which was concerned that floodwater would spill around a pair of 70-yearold reservoir dams that protect downtown Houston.
Mayor Sylvester Turner put the number by police at more than 3,000. The Coast Guard said it had also rescued more than 3,000 by boat and air and was taking more than 1,000 calls per hour.
Harvey increased slightly in strength on Monday as it drifted back over the warm Gulf, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Forecasters expect the system to stay over water with 72kph winds for 36 hours and then head back inland east of Houston sometime today. The system will then head north and lose its tropical strength.
Before then, up to 51cm of rain could fall, National Weather Service director Louis Uccellini said on Monday. That means the flooding will get worse in the days ahead and the floodwaters will be slow to recede once Harvey finally moves on, the weather service said.