PARTING SHOT AT TX.
Harvey inundates another city Evacuees take shelter in bowling alley
THE STORM that left a trail of destruction across Texas paid a second crippling visit to the Lone Star State on Wednesday, pounding the city of Port Arthur as estimates of disaster damages climbed to $75 billion.
While the sunshine in Houston signaled brighter news for the waterlogged city, Harvey, downgraded to a tropical depression, continued to wreak havoc.
“The worst is not yet over for southeast Texas,” warned Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.
Port Arthur, on the coast about 90 miles east of Houston, endured a downpour so ferocious that a local civic center serving as a temporary shelter was flooded out.
Two feet of water in the Bob Bowers Civic Center finally forced its evacuation. A nursing home in Port Arthur was emptied after family members tried to remove some of the 74 residents.
A bowling alley opened up for refugees seeking shelter in Port Arthur. Jeff Tolliver, general manager of the Max Bowl, welcomed more than 500 people, dozens of cats and dogs, a lizard and a monkey.
President Trump, for a second straight day, addressed the ongoing disaster in Texas as officials warned that the lethal flooding could continue into the weekend.
“Our first responders have been doing absolutely heroic work to shepherd people out of harm’s way,” said Trump. “To those affected by this storm, we are praying for you, and we are here with you every single step of the way.”
Forecasters predicted the worst of Harvey, which came ashore Friday as a powerful category 4 hurricane, was finally behind residents of Texas and neighboring Louisiana. The storm, with its winds down to 40 mph, should disappear by the weekend.
But the National Hurricane Center said sections of Tennessee and Kentucky could endure up to a foot of rain before the unforgiving system goes away for good.
The first rain-free day to hit Houston this week brightened spirits Wednesday, even as Harvey slammed into the state for a second time in six days, leaving at least 31 dead in its wake.
As the search for survivors continued, federal officials said more than 30,000 homeless Texans had relocated to more than 200 shelters
— with another 195,000 already filing for federal financial help from the unprecedented storm.
Another 1,800 people were temporarily lodged in hotels and motels. And one estimate of the number of flooded homes in Houston and surrounding Harris County was put at 100,000.
“The federal government is in this for the long haul,” promised Acting Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke. “We will continue to support the people of Texas as long as is necessary.”
Officials said they had already distributed $35 million in aid to residents still reeling from Harvey and its record 50-plus inches of precipitation.
“We are supporting this effort to provide medical care to those who have been displaced,” said Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Brock Long. “We understand this is going to be frustrating.”
Long noted that while much of the attention is focused on heavily flooded Houston, the storm wreaked havoc on more than 50 Texas counties — including 33 declared federal disaster areas.
Duke sent her “thoughts and prayers” to the family of Houston Police Sgt. Steve Perez, who died trying to drive to work during the storm.
Though the rain stopped in Houston, flooding continued to pose problems. Officials warned that a chemical plant in Crosby will likely catch fire or explode in the coming days due to the high waters.
And in Houston’s Buffalo Bayou, officials released water from two nearby reservoirs to keep them from overflowing.
Experts suggested Houston’s problem, in addition to 50-plus inches of rain, was the massive development that turned the Texas town into the nation’s fourth-largest city.
“Houston is the Wild West of development,” said Sam Brody, head of the Center for Texas Beaches and Shores at Texas A&M University, to The Washington Post.
“The stormwater system has never been designed for anything much stronger than a heavy afternoon thunderstorm.”