Now Texas OAPs are f looded in bed

FRAIL nursing home residents in Texas had to be evacuated after a foot of muddy water flooded into wards.

The elderly patients were woken and moved out as the destruction caused by the aftermath of hurricane Harvey continued.

One photo at the Gulf Health Care Centre in Port Arthur near Houston showed a woman lying in a bed surrounded by dirty water.

It came as hundreds were evacuated after a fire at Arkema chemical plant near Houston sent plumes of smoke into the air.

Chemicals used to make peroxides were stored in ice-cooled containers. As the ice melted in the flood, the chemicals ‘degraded’ and ignited.

After two explosions, everyone living within one-and-a-half miles was ordered out of their homes due to the ‘noxious’ smoke. Fifteen sheriff’s deputies were taken to hospital after inhaling the fumes and suffering irritation to their eyes, lungs and skin.

Arkema said the fumes were not deadly but told people to go to their doctor if they inhaled them.

As Harvey’s death toll hit at least 38 and waters began to recede, police and the coastguard in Houston began a door-to-door search for bodies.

Meanwhile, Beaumont city lost its drinking water supply when its main pumping station broke down, causing shops to ration bottled water.

As Harvey enters its eighth day today, 32,000 people are in shelters, 49,000 homes have been damaged and 1,000 destroyed. The US coastguard has rescued 6,000 people.