As floods ease, deaths rise and dangers linger
HOUSTON — With the weakened remnants of what was once Hurricane Harvey delivering drenching inland rainfall and yet more flooding Thursday, Houston and the vast area already hammered by the massive storm grappled with fresh perils as the waters began to recede, leaving behind a stew of toxic muck.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott called for a day of prayer across his stricken state, and rescuers continued to pluck victims from floods inundating small towns. A major hospital in Beaumont, east of Houston, was forced to evacuate after
the municipal water supply failed.
The death toll from the storm reached 32, but was expected to rise, perhaps sharply.
The grim work of recovering the bodies of those who were trapped in homes or vehicles gathered speed in Houston, the nation’s fourth-largest city.
Block-by-block searches were underway in some of the hardest-hit areas, said Houston’s assistant fire chief, Richard Mann.
White House homeland security adviser Tom Bossert told reporters in Washington that 100,000 homes had been either damaged or destroyed.
In what could prove an ominous precursor in the Gulf Coast’s sprawling petrochemical hub, flames and plumes of smoke soared skyward early Thursday at a chemical plant on the city’s outskirts. Rising temperatures and a power cutoff had set off volatile chemical reactions inside the Arkema Inc. plant in Crosby, 30 miles northeast of downtown Houston, authorities said.
Ten Harris County sheriff’s deputies were treated for possible chemical inhalation after the emission of fumes, local law enforcement officials said Thursday. In Washington, the Environmental Protection Agency said preliminary information suggested there were “no concentrations of concern for toxic materials reported at this time” from the emissions.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality concurred, describing the smoke and fumes as “acrid and irritating” but apparently not toxic.
The White House has prepared a request to Congress for an initial $5.9 billion package in Harvey recovery aid, a first down payment to make sure recovery efforts over the next few weeks are adequately funded.
The administration proposal, which was being finalized pending consultations with key Republicans, promises to represent just a fraction of an eventual Harvey recovery package that could rival the $100-billion-plus in taxpayer-financed help for victims of 2005’s Hurricane Katrina.
A senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the plan would be sent to Congress on Friday, and House and Senate votes appear likely next week.
The White House said President Donald Trump had pledged a $1 million personal donation for storm relief but gave no details. The president planned to return to the disaster zone Saturday, spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said.
After a high-profile visit Tuesday by Trump, Vice President Mike Pence flew in to the hurricane-hit zone, accompanied by several Cabinet secretaries.
In Rockport, Pence told a crowd gathered in front of the badly damaged First Baptist Church: “We are with you, and we will stay with you” as the recovery progresses. Later, the vice president donned work gloves and helped clear downed tree branches.
The storm sent more than 30,000 people into shelters after making landfall Friday. Even downgraded to a tropical depression as it marched eastnortheast, Harvey was drenching parts of Louisiana, with the National Weather Service warning that torrential rains could hit areas of Mississippi, Tennessee and Kentucky. There were flash-flood warnings as far away as southern Ohio.
The Navy ordered the Kearsarge, an amphibious assault ship, and the Oak Hill, a dock landing ship, to sail from their home port in Norfolk, Va., to the hurricane-hit zone to provide medical and logistical support. About 690 U.S. Marines were aboard the Kearsarge, along with more than a dozen helicopters.
The Marines were also bringing water purification systems and stood ready to help with aerial reconnaissance and aid distribution, the Pentagon said. Altogether, about 6,400 activeduty military personnel are deployed to the affected area.
High waters were expected to linger for a week in some areas, said Gov. Abbott, a Republican.
In Beaumont, 90 miles east of Houston, about 118,000 people lost access to water after floods knocked out a pump station along the Neches River, along with its backup water supply in neighboring Hardin County, municipal authorities said.
That prompted what medical officials described as the painful decision to halt emergency services and start evacuating facilities.