Harvey poised to flood Houston again
UNITED STATES: Floodwaters from Tropical Storm Harvey, which has already killed at least nine people in Texas and is expected to drive tens of thousands from their homes, are likely to rise in the coming days, officials have warned as heavy rains continue to pound the US Gulf Coast.
National Guard troops, police officers, rescue workers and civilians raced in helicopters, boats and special high-water trucks yesterday to rescue hundreds of people still stranded in and around Houston, the nation’s fourth-largest city.
The storm was the most powerful hurricane to strike Texas in more than 50 years when it came ashore on Saturday near Corpus Christi, 350 kilometres south of Houston, and the worst is far from over. The National Weather Service yesterday issued numerous flood warnings across the region.
US President Donald Trump, facing the biggest US natural disaster since he took office in January, has signed disaster proclamations for Texas and Louisiana, triggering federal relief efforts.
More than 267,000 Texans are without power in the southeast corner of the state. The Harris County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management issued a warning to residents of La Porte and Shoreacres, about 40km east of Houston, after a chemical leak caused by a ruptured pipeline.
As stunned families surveyed the wreckage of destroyed homes and roads flooded or clogged with debris, Texas Governor Greg Abbott warned Houstonians to brace for a long recovery. ’’We need to recognise this is going to be a new and different normal for this entire region.’’
Harvey is expected to linger over Texas’s Gulf Coast for the next few days, dropping another 25 to 51 centimetres of rain, with threats of flooding extending into Louisiana.
In scenes evoking the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, police and Coast Guard teams have rescued at least 2000 people so far, plucking many from rooftops by helicopter. Hundreds more believed to be marooned in flooded houses have been urged to hang towels or sheets outside to alert rescuers.
Harvey’s centre is forecast to arc slowly towards Houston, with the worst floods expected tomorrow and Friday.
Torrential rain has also hit areas more than 240km away, swelling rivers and causing a surge that is heading towards the Houston area, where numerous rivers and streams have already breached their banks.
About 5500 people were in shelters, city officials said, with Federal Emergency Management Agency director Brock Long forecasting that 30,000 would eventually be housed temporarily in shelters. - Reuters