Floodwaters rise to roof lines

HOUSTON: Floodwaters reached the roof lines of single-store y homes yesterday, and people could be heard pleading for help from inside as Harvey kept pouring rain on the Houston area after a chaotic weekend of rising water and rescues.

The nation’s fourth-largest city was still largely paralysed, and there was no relief in sight from the storm that spun into Texas as a Category 4 hurricane, then parked itself over the Gulf Coast. With more rain expected, authorities worried whether the worst was yet to come.

The disaster unfolded on an epic scale in one of America’s most sprawling metropolitan centres.

Yesterday, the city’s normally bustling business district was virtually deserted, with emergency vehicles making up most of the traffic.

Gush

Elsewhere, water gushed from two reservoirs overwhelmed by Harvey as officials sought to release pressure on a pair of dams where floodwaters were at risk of spilling uncontrolled from around the sides of the barriers.

Meanwhile, rescuers continued plucking people from the floodwaters – at least 2 000 so far, according to Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo.

With rain falling unabated, he said there was nowhere left for the water to drain.

“I’m not sure where the water is going because it’s just so much that we can’t really absorb more in the ground at this point,” he said.

The rising water forced a mass evacuation of parts of the city on Sunday. The storm has been blamed for at least two deaths.

Residents living near the Addicks and Barker reservoirs – which were created to prevent flooding in downtown Houston – were warned on Sunday that a controlled release would cause additional street flooding that could spill into homes.

Harris and Fort Bend county officials advised residents to pack their cars on Sunday night and leave in the morning.

In the Cypress Forest Estates neighbourhood in northern Harris County, people called for help from inside their homes as water from a nearby creek climbed to the same level as their eaves.

A steady procession of rescue boats floated into the area.

On Sunday, incessant rain covered much of Houston in turbid, gray-green water and turned streets into rivers navigable only by boat.

Volunteers joined emergency teams in pulling people from their homes or from the water. The weather service warned that the flooding will get worse in the days ahead and that the floodwaters will be slow to recede once Harvey finally moves on.

Up to 51cm of rain could fall in the coming days, on top of the more than 76cm some places have already seen, weather service Director Louis Uccellini said yesterday.

The White House said President Donald Trump would visit Texas today, accompanied by first lady Melania Trump. – ANA-AP