Authorities in the Houston area were bracing for more rain in a region that has already experienced widespread flooding and prompted more than 1,000 rescues in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.
Harvey, which weakened to a tropical storm but still posed a danger of devastating floods, is blamed in at least two deaths in Texas, including that of one person in Houston who is believed to have drowned in a vehicle, authorities said.
Dallas said it was preparing to open its “Mega Shelter” in the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center to handle a stream of people displaced from Houston and other coastal areas. Around 250 roads and highways in the state have been closed by floodwaters, Gov. Greg Abbott said. He called the storm “a horrible tragedy.”
“People need to know that there are large and growing rescue teams that will be working around the clock to evacuate people in need,” Abbott said on MSNBC.
Forecasters warned that the flooding in Texas could be historic. More than 20 inches of rain had fallen on Houston in 24 hours as of Sunday evening, the National Weather Service said. Fifteen to 25 more inches of rain could fall on a swath of the upper Texas coast to Lafayette, Louisiana, by Friday.
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The National Weather Service said average rainfall amounts in Harris County had already eclipsed the amounts seen in devastating Tropical Storm Allison in 2001 — and in about half the time. Abbott said 3,000 members of the National Guard had been activated.
A Houston woman whose home flooded early Saturday said the water began to build at 3 a.m. and did not stop. “I was thinking of writing my Social Security number on my arm,” she told MSNBC.
Thousands of calls for help came in to first responders, and the city’s mayor pleaded with people to call 911 only in life-threatening emergencies. Harris County Judge Ed Emmett, the county’s top executive, issued a call for private boat and high-water vehicle owners to help.
Frank Peña moved into an apartment in southeast Houston just three days ago. Sunday, most of his possessions were underwater. “All gone. Everything’s gone,” he said. Peña’s upstairs neighbor took him — and three other families — in.
The National Hurricane Center said the Houston area could see a total of 50 inches of rain. The storm was causing “unprecedented flooding” in southeastern Texas, the hurricane center said. An Army Corps of Engineers official said two Houston-area dams will release water over the next week due to “unparalleled” volume — something that has never been done before.
“This is a life-threatening situation,” said Michael Palmer, lead meteorologist for The Weather Channel.
Harvey was about 25 miles northwest of Victoria at 5 p.m. ET Sunday, with maximum sustained winds of 40 mph, the hurricane center said. The center of the storm is forecast to move off the Texas coast on Monday and linger just offshore through the night.
President Donald Trump will travel to Texas on Tuesday. He signed a disaster declaration to help get federal funds to stricken areas. Abbott said Sunday that he expanded an initial request to 18 counties, including Harris County, where Houston is located, and that it had been approved.
Abbott praised the White House response and said he had spoken with Trump personally. Brock Long, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said Sunday that the recovery effort would take years.
“This is a long game. It’s going to take a long time to heal,” Abbott said.
Harvey caused damage along the Texas Gulf coast and inland, and the city of Rockport north of Corpus Christi was hit hard, officials said. Port Aransas was reportedly without power, water and telephone service, and every business in town was damaged.
More than 67,000 people in the Houston area were without power shortly before 8 p.m. ET, and flooding was preventing utility crews from reaching many parts of the city, CenterPoint Energy said.
Flood watches from San Antonio to Lafayette, Louisiana, covered 13 million people and were expected to be in place through midweek.
There was a break in the rain Sunday, but forecasts warned that more could be on the way. Authorities urged people to stay home or in safe places if possible.
Jose Rengel, 47, a construction worker who lives in Galveston, was helping with rescue efforts in Dickinson, southeast of Houston, where he saw water cresting the tops of cars.
“I am blessed that not much has happened to me, but these people lost everything. And it keeps raining,” he told Reuters.
