STORM’S TOLL MOUNTS
Harvey rain sets record; fatalities top a dozen
HOUSTON — With its flood defenses strained, the crippled city of Houston anxiously watched dams and levees Tuesday to see if they would hold until the rain stops, and meteorologists offered the first reason for hope — a forecast with less than an inch of rain and even a chancefor sunshine.
The human toll continued to mount, both in deaths and in the ever-swelling number of scared people made homeless by the catastrophic storm that is now the heaviest tropical downpour in U.S. history.
Authorities and family members have so far reported more than a dozen deaths from Harvey. Some officials believed that at least 22 peopleacross Texas were dead of stormrelated causes. Other local officials reported at least 30 confirmed and suspected flood-related deaths.
The city’s largest shelter was overflowing when the mayor announced plans to create space for thousands of extra people by opening two and possibly three more mega-shelters.
“We are not turning anyone
away. But it does mean we need to expand our capabilities and our capacity,” Mayor Sylvester Turner said. “Relief is coming.”
The rescues went on. Federal and local agencies said they had lifted more than 13,000 people out of the floodwaters in the Houston area and surrounding cities and counties.
Louisiana’s governor offered to take in Harvey victims from Texas, and televangelist Joel Osteen opened his Houston megachurch, a 16,000-seat former arena, after critics blasted him on social media for not acting to help families displaced by the storm.
Air Force Maj. Gen. James Witham told reporters Tuesday that there currently are about 3,500 National Guard troops involved in Harvey rescue and recovery efforts, including about 3,000 from the Texas National Guard. He estimated that the Texas guard number could rise to 8,000 to 10,000 in coming days, possibly joined by 20,000 to 30,000 from other states.
At the same time, six Pennsylvania airmen skilled in securing and re-establishing cell phone and satellite communications are on their way to help with Tropical Storm Harvey recovery in theHouston area.
Meteorologists said the sprawling city would soon geta chance to dry out.
When Harvey returns to landWednesday, “it’s the end of the beginning,” National Hurricane Center meteorologistDennis Feltgen said.
Harveywill spend much of Wednesday dropping rain on Louisiana — where images of Harvey lit up weather radar screens Tuesday on the 12th anniversary of the day Hurricane Katrina made landfall — before moving on to Arkansas, Tennessee and parts of Missouri, which could also see flooding.
But Mr. Feltgen cautioned: “We’re not done with this. There’s still an awful lot of real estate and a lot of people who are going to feel the impactsof the storm.”
The National Weather Service predicted less of an inch of rain for Houston on Wednesday and only a 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms for Thursday. Friday’s forecast called for mostlysunny skies.
In all, more than 17,000 people have sought refuge in Texas shelters, and that number seemed certain to increase, the American Red Crosssaid.
The city’s largest shelter, the George R. Brown Convention Center, held more than 9,000 people, almost twice the number officials originally planned to house there.
By the end of the day, the Toyota Center, home of the NBA’s Rockets, had begun accepting people who could not find space at the conventioncenter.
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said he expected Texas officials to decide within 48 hours whether to accept his offer, which comes as Louisiana deals with its own flooding. About 500 people were evacuated from flooded neighborhoods in southwest Louisiana, Mr. Edwardssaid.
Amid scattered reports of looting, the mayor also imposeda curfew.
Four days after the storm ravaged the Texas coastline as a hurricane, authorities and family members have reported more than a dozen deaths from Harvey. They include a woman killed when heavy rain sent a large oak tree crashing onto her trailer and another woman who apparently drowned after her vehicle was swept off a bridge.
A pair of 70-year-old reservoir dams that protect downtown Houston and a levee in a suburban subdivision began overflowing Tuesday, adding to the rising floodwaters. And Brazoria County authorities posted a message on Twitter warning that the levee at Columbia Lakes south of Houston had been breached.
After five consecutive days of rain, Harvey set a new continental U.S. record for rainfall for a tropical system.
The rains in Cedar Bayou, near Mont Belvieu, Texas, totaled 51.88 inches as of Tuesday afternoon. That’s a record for both Texas and the continental United States.