‘Pack up and get out’: flooded Houston ravaged by more rain from Tropical Storm Harvey
Rescuers overwhelmed as officials are forced to release waters from reservoirs to save downtown Houston; six people confirmed dead in disaster
Floodwaters reached the roof lines of single-story homes on Monday and people could be heard pleading for help from inside as Harvey poured rain on the Houston area for a fourth consecutive day 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 nearly 2 more feet of rain expected, authorities worried whether the worst was yet to come.
Texas officials said on Monday that six more people are feared to have died in the Houston area as a result of torrential rains unleashed by Harvey over the weekend.
Tricia Bentley, spokeswoman for the medical examiner’s office in Harris County which includes the city of Houston, confirmed six deaths since Sunday that are “potentially tied to Hurricane Harvey.”
Harvey, which made landfall late on Friday as a category 4 hurricane and is now dropping heavy rain as a tropical storm, sent devastating floods pouring into Houston on Sunday. The rising water chased thousands of people to rooftops or higher ground and overwhelmed rescuers who could not keep up with calls for help.
The director of the National Weather Service warned that the catastrophic flooding that has overwhelmed the fourth largest US city and other parts of Texas was set to worsen in the coming days.
Director Louis Uccellini said up to 51cm of rain could fall in the coming days, on top of the more than 76cm some places have already seen.
