Schools, airports and office buildings in Houston, a
city in the US state of Texas, were ordered shut on
Monday as scores of roads turned into rivers and
chest-high water filled neighborhoods in the low-lying
city.
This is as a result of Tropical Storm Harvey, the most
powerful hurricane to hit Texas in more than 50 years.
Flooding paralysed the country’s fourth biggest city,
forcing thousands to flee surrounding counties and
swollen rivers to levels not seen in centuries.
Harvey, first hit land late on Friday and has killed at
least two people.
It has since stayed around Texas’ Gulf of Mexico Coast
where it is forecast to remain for several more days,
drenching parts with a year’s worth of rain in the span
of a week.
Torrential rain also hit areas more than 150 miles (240
km) away, swelling rivers upstream and causing a
surge that was heading toward the Houston area.
Authorities ordered more than 50,000 people to leave
parts of Fort Bend County, about 35 miles (55 km)
southwest of Houston as the Brazos River was set to
crest at a record high of 59 feet (18 m) this week, 14
feet above its flood stage.
Brazos County Judge Robert Hebert told reporters the
forecast crest represents a high not seen in at least
800 years.
“What we’re seeing is the most devastating flood event
in Houston’s recorded history,” said Steve Bowen,
chief meteorologist at reinsurance firm Aon Benfield.
Total precipitation could reach 50 inches (127 cm) in
some coastal areas of Texas by the end of the week,
or the average rainfall for an entire year, forecasters
said. Nearly 24 inches fell in a span of 24 hours in
Baytown, a city home to major refineries about 30
miles east of Houston, the National Weather Service
said early on Monday.
“Water started flooding our house and by last night we
were unable to leave,” said Maria Davila, one of about
1,000 people in a makeshift shelter at Houston’s
sprawling convention center.
Dallas will set up a “mega shelter” it its convention
center to house 5,000 evacuees, the city said in a
statement.
President Donald Trump plans to go to Texas on
Tuesday to survey damage from the storm, a White
House spokeswoman said on Sunday.
Trump, facing the first big US natural disaster since he
took office in January, signed a disaster proclamation
on Friday, triggering federal relief efforts.
Greg Abbott, Texas governor, said he plans to add
1,000 more National Guard personnel to the flood
battle.
Harvey is expected to produce an additional 15 inches
to 25 inches of rain through Friday in the upper Texas
coast and into southwestern Louisiana, the National
Hurricane Center said.
The center of Harvey was 96 miles (154 km)
southwest of Houston on Monday morning and
forecast to arc slowly toward the city through
Wednesday.
TheCable
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