Agony builds as water rises
Survivor warns: ‘Grab only what you need. Grab your life’
Rescue boats, highwater 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, swelled 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 Colum- bia Lakes levee.
President Trump arrived in Texas, meeting with Gov. Greg Abbott in Corpus Christi but staying out of Houston. 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 proportions. No one has ever
ilarity to Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in 2005 when the city sent thousands of residents to the Superdome. The stadium, intended as a last-resort evacuation center, soon sank into chaos with limited power, overtaxed plumbing, insufficient food and a shredded roof.
Houston is not the Superdome, government officials stressed Tuesday.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency was on the ground and in the convention center from Day One, spokesman David Gervino said.
“So many people have stepped up, from everyday citizens to first responders to state and local officials and other government partners, both state and federal,” Gervino said. “We’ve pre-positioned a wealth of assets. We had other teams deployed here before the first raindrops hit the ground. This is a very different response.”
Tom McCasland, director of Housing and Community Development for the city, said he hoped to open another shelter close by later in the day.
But, he declared, “our doors remain open. At no point, have we closed the doors here. We are sheltering people with pets and urgent medical emergencies, and we continue to shelter people as they come in.”
Though officials stressed they would not turn anyone away, they could not guarantee everyone would get a bed or a cot.
Evacuees entering the Houston convention center were searched for firearms or alcohol. Red Cross officials registered evacuees before giving them meals, blankets and dry clothing.
Doctors were on duty, and there was a pharmaceutical area and emergency room. Evacuees with flood-damaged homes were urged to register with FEMA. Soon, the convention center would have showers.
Volunteers were quick to assess needs.
“Right now, we have an urgent need for wheelchairs,” said Tyler Moyer, program marketing manager for the Red Cross.
Another small group of volunteers, the Texas Center for the Missing and the Houston Police Department’s missing-persons division worked to reconnect families who were separated as they fled the floods.
For those inside, there was a mix of relief and frustration.
Isaiah Arellano, 18, huddled with a group of adults and children along the wall in a hallway of the convention center. He has been at the shelter since Monday, when his house began flooding. He walked through waist-high water to reach a safe place, then was taken to the shelter.
“Last night I slept on the hard floor and used a towel as a pillow,” he said, pointing to cardboard that’s his bed.
“They said there are no cots. Since last night we’ve been asking for a crib for the baby, and we still don’t have one.”
Marck Acosta of Houston reclined on cardboard and pillows, his 6-month-old daughter, Aubrey, nursing a bottle of milk next to him.
“Long, cold, crazy days,” he said.
The family, he said, was picked up by buses and taken to the convention center Monday.
“Within an hour, they gave us dry clothes,” Acosta said. “They gave us everything we need.”
He was grateful for everything. Asked about sleeping on cardboard, Acosta said: “It’s not the best, but it’s passable. It’s better than being outside.”