Thousands rescued as Harvey’s waters rise
US - Even as darkness fell and the waters kept rising, emergency officials in Houston continued fielding calls overnight from flood-stranded Texans. Thousands have been rescued so far, many are still waiting to pick up.
“The Coast Guard is continuing to receive upwards of 1,000 calls per hour,” US Coast Guard Lt. Mike Hart said. “Today alone, the Coast Guard has rescued over 3,000 people. That includes both air rescues and rescues using boats.”
Since midnight Sunday, more than 2,300 calls have poured in to the Houston Fire Department, including 400 calls for rescue Monday afternoon, Houston officials said. Four people have died as a result of the catastrophic storm. Houston police had rescued 1,000 people since Monday morning, bringing the total number rescued to more than 3,000 since the storm flooded the city, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner told reporters Monday night.
Live video from Houston showed rescuers in small boats on one flooded street carrying people to higher ground.
As Harvey dumped rain on East Texas and the waters rose, people started to panic, rushing rescue boats and even shooting at them if they didn’t stop, said one volunteer rescuer. Clyde Cain, of the Cajun Navy, a Louisiana-based rescue force that gained fame during Hurricane Katrina, said in one instance, a boat broke down, and while the crew sought shelter in a delivery truck, people tried to steal the inoperable boat. “They’re making it difficult for us to rescue them,” he said. “You have people rushing the boat. Everyone wants to get in at the same time. They’re panicking. Water is rising.”
Because of the hostile responses, the Cajun Navy has been forced to halt some rescue attempts, Cain said.
“We have boats being shot at if we’re not picking everybody up. We have to pull out for a minute. We’re dropping an airboat right now to go rescue a couple of our boats that broke, and they’re kind of under attack,” he said. There is no indication the water will stop rising anytime soon. Swollen rivers in east Texas aren’t expected to crest until later this week, and federal officials are already predicting the deadly Tropical Storm Harvey will drive 30,000 people into shelters and spur 450,000 victims to seek some sort of disaster assistance.
And yet, forecasters say, more rain is coming. Lots more.
(CNN.COM/
Photo: Union Leader)