Agony builds as water rises; Trump visits Texas |
Survivor’s warning: ‘ Grab only what you need. Grab your life’
HOUSTON Rescue boats, high- water vehicles, kayaks and even jet skis searched flood- swollen streets Tuesday for trapped, desperate residents as relentless Tropical Storm Harvey trudged east toward Louisiana.
River levels marched higher, swollen by days of relentless rain. A reservoir splashed over its banks, another threatened to overflow, and authorities in Brazoria County, south of Houston, announced a levee breach.
“GET OUT NOW!!” the county urged residents near the Columbia Lakes levee.
President Trump arrived in Texas, meeting with Gov. Greg Abbott in Corpus Christi but staying out of Houston to avoid adding to the chaos there. Trump lauded the agencies overseeing rescue and recovery and said he expected the effort will be viewed in the future as “the way to do it.”
The devastation “was of epic pro-
portions. No one has ever seen it,” Trump said.
The storm remained over the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday; it dumped more than 50 inches of rain in parts of Houston. A National Weather Service gauge near Highlands, Texas, recorded 51.88 inches of rain — the highest total ever from a tropical storm or hurricane in the contiguous 48 states.
Harvey was likely to drop an additional 6 to 12 inches of rain through Friday over the upper Texas coast and into southwestern Louisiana.
Still, Mayor Sylvester Turner was optimistic at a news conference Tuesday. “My hope is that once we get past the next 24 hours that the situation in the city of Houston will significantly improve,” he said.
Emergency responders have conducted more than 3,500 boat and air rescues, and the number was climbing. Outside help streamed in. Search- and- rescue crews from Florida, California, Utah and other areas were deployed to trouble spots around the city. Walmart shipped 2,000 kayaks to help stranded residents.
The giant shelter set up at the George R. Brown Convention Center in downtown Houston was packed with more than 9,000 evacuees — nearly double its planned capacity. Thousands more slept in smaller shelters across the region.
“Last night in Texas, 17,000+ people sought refuge in shelters,” the American Red Cross tweeted Tuesday. “We’re providing safety & comfort to rescued families.”
Evacuees described turmoil, uncertainty— and relief to have survived.
Surrounded by people taking a smoking break outside the convention center, Danielle Brown hugged her boyfriend, Lorenzo Harps. They arrived Sunday night after being rescued by boat from a ground- level apartment.
“Everything was already flooded,” said Brown, huddled beneath a relatively dry overhang as rain poured down. “We had to move to the top floor, to a neighbor.”
Before moving up, they tried putting electronics, clothes and keepsakes on counters and shelves. The water climbed to 3 feet within hours before rescuers reached them the next day.
The wrath of Harvey was Brown’s first brush with a tropical storm or hurricane. Her message to anyone experiencing a similar crisis: “Be prepared. Be cautious,” she said. “Grab only what you need. Grab your life.”
Turner said two or three more city shelters would open soon. He again addressed criticism leveled at city officials for declining to call for an evacuation before the storm. “You cannot evacuate 6.5 million people within two days,” he said. “You cannot. That would be chaotic. ... You would be putting people more in harm’s way.”
The mayor imposed a 10 p. m.- to- 5 a. m. curfew for the city after warning residents about people impersonating law enforcement officers.
Police Chief Art Acevedo confirmed the death of one police officer who was trapped in his flooded patrol car late Sunday or early Monday while trying to get to work.
Acevedo called Sgt. Steve Perez, a 34year police veteran, a “sweet, gentle public servant.”
The death toll from Harvey was difficult to tabulate, and authorities said it could be days before the full extent of the storm is known.
“We know in these kind of events that, sadly, the death toll goes up,” Acevedo told the Associated Press earlier Tuesday. “I’m really worried about how many bodies we’re going to find” when the water recedes.
Acevedo also said police had arrested a group of four armed “hijackers” and three looters. He issued a warning: “Word to the wise — don’t come to Houston, because you are going to be caught,” he said. He promised swift arrest and a push for tough prosecutions and sentences for criminals who “take advantage of people and prey on them in these circumstances. That is despicable behavior.”
The governor said the focus remained on saving lives, but the recovery effort across the region would begin soon.
Contributing: Doyle Rice, USA TODAY; The ( Lafayette, La.) Daily Advertiser
“We know in these kind of events that, sadly, the death toll goes up. I’m really worried about how many bodies we’re going to find.” Police Chief Art Acevedo