LET’S GO WALKIES
BEARING THE BRUNT: CENTRAL TEXAS FEARS THE WORST IS YET TO COME
People carry their dog in a plastic bag through flooded streets as the effects of Hurricane Harvey are seen yesterday in Galveston, Texas. Hurricane Harvey left a trail of devastation on Saturday after the most powerful storm to hit the US mainland in over a decade slammed into Texas, destroying homes, severing power supplies and forcing tens of thousands of residents to flee.
Hurricane Harvey lashed central Texas with torrential rains on Saturday, raising fears of “catastrophic” flooding after the megastorm – the most powerful to hit the United States since 2005 – left a deadly trail of devastation along the Gulf Coast.
The latest forecasts show that Harvey will hover along the shore for the next four or five days.
The storm flattened buildings, toppled mobile homes, sent boats floating into the streets and left hundreds of thousands of people without power.
While only one person was known to have died, officials said they feared the worst was yet to come, with large areas of Texas under flash flood warnings and sporadic tornadoes touching down, tearing roofs off houses.
Harvey made landfall late on Friday as a Category Four hurricane, pounding the town of Rockport outside Corpus Christi with winds of 215km/h, the National Hurricane Centre said.
It then made a second landfall a few hours later just north of Rockport, which was one of the hardest-hit areas.
Governor Greg Abbott said at least 50cm of rain had fallen in some areas – with more possible.
“Our primary concern remains dramatic flooding,” Abbott told reporters.
As of late Saturday, 230 000 customers were still without power, providers said.
Emergency services were struggling to make headway as rains continued to pour down, although the Coast Guard managed to airlift 20 people and a dog to safety.
One person was confirmed to have died in a fire that broke out in his house.
President Donald Trump said he was closely monitoring relief efforts.
“We are leaving nothing to chance. City, State and Federal Govs. working great together!” he tweeted, after meeting with his cabinet via teleconference.
About 22% of crude production in the Gulf of Mexico, accounting for 375 000 barrels a day, was shut down on Friday. – AFP