Some Texans head home, others still in peril
PORT ARTHUR, United States: US President Donald Trump heads to Texas on Saturday to assess conditions in the storm- ravaged state as residents of Houston and other cities were returning home to face the grim, possibly yearslong task of rebuilding.
One week after Harvey blasted into southeast Texas as a Category Four hurricane, rescuers were still searching by air and by boat for
A fresh blaze broke out Friday evening at a chemical plant in Crosby, northeast of Houston, sending a giant plume of thick black smoke billowing into the sky.
And as floodwaters receded in Houston, Texas’s biggest city, nearby towns such as Beaumont— which had lost its water supply— and Port Arthur were struggling to get back on their feet.
“I ain’t never seen nothing like it in my 37 years,” said Tobias James, surveying the damage to his home in Port Arthur, including the two
Just two days earlier, the oil and gas - along with his wife and children.
Harvey has been blamed for at least 42 deaths thus far and tens of billions of dollars of damage.
The White House will ask Congress for $7.9 billion in emergency aid, calling it a “down payment” on the long-term cost of recovering
Trump, who has declared Sunday to be a “National Day of Prayer” for victims of Hurricane Harvey, put an upbeat gloss on the situation.
“Texas is healing fast thanks to all of the great men & women who have been working so hard,” he tweeted. “But still so much to do. Will be back tomorrow!”
He added later Friday: “Great progress being made!”
The president is returning to Texas Saturday for his second visit since the megastorm hit, and will also go to neighboring Louisiana, accompanied by First Lady Melania Trump.
Across Port Arthur, meanwhile, rescue workers were still evacuating residents who rode out the storm in their homes.
Jonathan Caldwell, a former friends rescued about a dozen - hood Friday.
“We had little ones on our shoulders, wading through chest deep water this morning,” he said.
Drying Houston
Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said most of the city was “now dry” but urged residents living leave their homes—some 15,000 to 20,000 of them.
but some were holding out—straining emergency workers who have to maintain services to them, including providing them with water.
Turner said the most pressing needs were housing for people who have lost their homes and debris removal.
He estimated that around 40,000 to 50,000 homes in the Houston area had suffered damage, and said federal assistance was needed urgently.
“We need the resources now,” Turner told CNN. “In fact let me back that up. We need the resources yesterday.”
Texas Governor Greg Abbott said more than 42,000 people spent Thursday night in 258 shelters across Texas and another 3,000 Texans did so in neighboring Louisiana.