Thousands driven from homes, seven dead, as Harvey hammers Houston

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Thousands driven from homes, seven dead, as Harvey hammers Houston

By Peter Henderson and Mica Rosenberg

 

Residents wait to be rescued from the flood waters of Tropical Storm Harvey in Beaumont Place, Texas, U.S., on August 28, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Bachman TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

 

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Floodwaters from Tropical Storm Harvey, which has already killed at least seven people in Texas and was expected to drive 30,000 others from their homes, will likely rise in the coming days, officials warned on Monday as heavy rain continued to pound the U.S. Gulf Coast.

 

National Guard troops, police officers, rescue workers and civilians raced in helicopters, boats and special high-water trucks to rescue the hundreds of people still stranded in and around Houston, the nation's fourth-largest city.

 

The storm was the most powerful hurricane to strike Texas in more than 50 years when it came ashore on Friday near Corpus Christi, 220 miles (354 km) south of Houston.

 

It is believed to have killed at least six people in Harris County, where Houston is located, according to Tricia Bentley, a spokeswoman for the county coroner's office, including a man who died in a house fire and an elderly woman attempting to drive through flooded streets on the city's west side.

 

A 60-year-old woman died in neighbouring Montgomery County when a tree fell on her trailer home while she slept, the local medical examiner said on Twitter.

 

As stunned families surveyed the wreckage of destroyed homes and roads flooded or clogged with debris, Texas Governor Greg Abbott warned Houstonians to brace for a long recovery.

 

"We need to recognise this is going to be a new and different normal for this entire region," Abbott said after touring Corpus Christi.

 

Harvey was expected to linger over Texas' Gulf Coast for the next few days, dropping another 10 to 20 inches (25 to 51 cm) of rain, with threats of flooding extending into Louisiana.

 

MORE FLOODING TO COME

 

In scenes evoking the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, police and Coast Guard teams have rescued at least 2,000 people so far, plucking many from rooftops by helicopter, as they urged the hundreds more believed to be marooned in flooded houses to hang towels or sheets outside to alert rescuers.

 

Residents with boats pitched in, including 26-year-old Kayla Harvey who used social media to locate stranded neighbours.

 

"This is just what we do for our community. We don't wait for someone to come and help. We just go out and do it," she said.

 

Harvey's centre was 85 miles (137 km) south-southwest of Houston on Monday afternoon and forecast to arc slowly towards the city through Wednesday, with the worst floods expected later that day and on Thursday.

 

Schools and office buildings were closed throughout the metropolitan area, home to 6.8 million people, as chest-high water filled some neighbourhoods in the low-lying city.

 

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Monday that it was releasing water from the nearby Addicks and Barker reservoirs into Buffalo Bayou, the primary body of water running through Houston.

 

"The more they release it could go up and it could create even additional problems," Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner warned. But the release was said to be necessary to prevent an uncontrolled surge of water, which Turner said "would be exponentially worse."

 

Torrential rain also hit areas more than 150 miles (240 km) away, swelling rivers and causing a surge that was heading towards the Houston area, where numerous rivers and streams already have been breached.

 

'ALL THE ROADS ARE CLOSED'

 

The high floodwaters made it hard for some residents who had fled their homes to find shelter. Christe Fletcher, 37, fled her house after it flooded to waist-deep, but was struggling to find a safe route to a nearby hotel.

 

"It's kind of hard to get there because all of the roads are closed," she said. "It's the worst experience you can go through."

 

About 5,500 people were in shelters as of Monday morning, city officials said, with Federal Emergency Management Agency director Brock Long forecasting that 30,000 would eventually be housed temporarily in shelters.

 

Regina Costilla, 48, said she and her 16-year-old son had been rescued from their home by a good Samaritan with a boat. She worried until she was reunited with her husband and large dog, who had been left behind because they did not fit into the boat.

 

"I'm not complaining; we're alive," said Costilla. "When I saw the forecast of the storm I said I'll be happy if we get out with our lives."

 

Houston did not order an evacuation due to concerns about people being stranded on city highways now consumed by floods, Turner said.

 

Abbott, who had suggested on Friday that people leave the area, declined to second-guess the mayor on Monday, telling reporters, "Decisions about evacuations are something that are behind us."

 

U.S. President Donald Trump plans to go to Texas on Tuesday to survey the damage. He said he might return on Saturday and could stop in Louisiana where the storm is now dumping rain.

 

Trump, facing the biggest U.S. natural disaster since he took office in January, has signed disaster proclamations for Texas and Louisiana, triggering federal relief efforts.

 

Almost half of the U.S. refining capacity is in the Gulf region. Shutdowns extended across the coast, including Exxon Mobil Corp's <XOM.N> facility in Baytown, the nation's second largest refinery.

 

The floods' path of destruction could destroy as much as $20 billion (15.47 billion pounds) in insured property, making it one of the costliest storms in history for U.S. insurers, according to Wall Street analysts.

 

(Additional reporting by Marianna Perraga, Erwin Seba, Nick Oxford and Ernest Scheyder in Houston and Steve Holland in Washington; Writing by Scott Malone and Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Tom Brown and Lisa Shumaker)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-08-29

[Scott]

It's an unbelievable amount of rain with some areas having received 890 cm of rain.  

[jerojero]

And the idiot mayor of Houston told citizens not to evacuate prior to the hurricane.

[over it]

31 minutes ago, jerojero said:

And the idiot mayor of Houston told citizens not to evacuate prior to the hurricane.

The Houston mayor knows Texans are well versed in hurricanes. People come out in droves to help their neighbor. Donations have already started. This is a normal hurricane. One well-prepared refinery is already back online. Next.

[rijb]

When is the rain suppose to stop?

 

The cajun navy is out and about.  Good people.

 

http://abcnews.go.com/US/volunteer-cajun-navy-saving-lives-houston-amid-harveys/story?id=49474818

Edited August 29, 2017 by rijb

[Moonlover]

1 hour ago, jerojero said:

And the idiot mayor of Houston told citizens not to evacuate prior to the hurricane.

Quote:  'Houston did not order an evacuation due to concerns about people being stranded on city highways now consumed by floods, Turner said'. 

[boomerangutang]

1 hour ago, jerojero said:

And the idiot mayor of Houston told citizens not to evacuate prior to the hurricane.

                         I don't know the mayor, but can say he's not an idiot.  Do you know what happens when 6.5 million people are told to evacuate an area with just a few hwys leading out to.....  where?   What direction do you advise them to go?   How do you know whether the inclement weather is worse where they're heading?   Mostly what happens in such large-scale evacuations, is a multitude of vehicles stuck in traffic - with no food, water, fuel.   Not a pretty picture.

 

                    In 2005, Houstoners were told to evacuate.  That was weeks after H. Katrina slammed New Orleans.  Much gridlock, and other troubles ensued on Houston highways leading out of the city.  It was over 100 degrees F.   In sum; many more people died and suffered from that evacuation order, than would have died and suffered if they'd stayed put in their neighborhoods.   

 

npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/08/28/546721363/why-didn-t-officials-order-the-evacuation-of-houston

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 29, 2017 by boomerangutang

[oldcarguy]

I was so proud of the Texas governor at the first press conference,

 

no grandstanding , just the facts to help people , he had it together to help people understand what was happening and how they could help themselves,

 

this is going to take a long time to recover

 

Good luck to them

[rijb]

This policeman worked countless hours helping victims of Hurricane Harvey until he passed out from exhaustion.

[Scott]

Hind sight is 20/20, but in retrospect, given the huge amount of rain that was forecast, the city should probably have done at least a partial evacuation.   Hospitals, nursing homes, care facilities should have had most patients moved out of the area. Jails, prisons and juvenile facilities should also have transferred inmates to out of the area institutions.  

 

Elderly people and people with chronic and acute medical conditions -- including high risk or near term pregnancies should have been advised to move.  

 

  High risk areas should have advised to leave as well.  

 

That would have left the stronger people and those much better equipped to deal with the situation with a lot of the pressure off for the most vulnerable.  

 

I lived in a city that was down river from a very large dam.   Periodically, there were evacuation drills.   The majority of people knew nothing about it, but all gov't agencies, hospitals, jails etc.   were forced to participate and move their patience and residence.   Hospitals, of course, had a certain amount of leeway in actually moving ill, but the rest did not.  

 

From that they knew the amount of time it would take, the best routes, the number of vehicles and the impact on services.  There were also designated places to go.  

 

[craigt3365]

Having been flooded out and being evacuated along with my 91 Year old mother, my heart goes out to these people. Their lives will be upside down for a long time.

[Ulic]

9 hours ago, Scott said:

It's an unbelievable amount of rain with some areas having received 890 cm of rain.  

890 mm or 89 cm certainly not 8.9 meters.

[Skywalker69]

 

[Jingthing]

I'm curious about the electricity situation. I'm hearing on media that a lot of the places that are heavily flooded still have electricity flowing. Yet we don't hear much about electrocutions. I don't understand how that works.

[Thaidream]

As long as the wires stay up and don't fall into water- I would imagine that the electricity stays on. I waas living in Pathum Thani in 2011 when the water rose to almost 1 meter outside my house and starting entering. The electricity was on the whole time and luckily when the house was built the electrical outlets were placed at mid wall- saving the whole electrical system. I decided to evacuate self and family when I looked out and saw snakes and large lizards floating by in the water and when there were reports of alligators escaping from a nearby alligator preserve .Evacuated by Boat and headed to Sri Racha to wait it out.  Evacuees in the area had parked their cars on the elevated expressway causing a massive traffic nightmare. It took 8 hours to reach Bangkok central city from an area which normally takes 45 minutes.

 

 However, what a mess- clean up and repair was costly.  My heart goes out to the people of Houston. Once the water recedes- what they find will not be good.

[YetAnother]

8 hours ago, boomerangutang said:

                         I don't know the mayor, but can say he's not an idiot.  Do you know what happens when 6.5 million people are told to evacuate an area with just a few hwys leading out to.....  where?   What direction do you advise them to go?   How do you know whether the inclement weather is worse where they're heading?   Mostly what happens in such large-scale evacuations, is a multitude of vehicles stuck in traffic - with no food, water, fuel.   Not a pretty picture.

 

                    In 2005, Houstoners were told to evacuate.  That was weeks after H. Katrina slammed New Orleans.  Much gridlock, and other troubles ensued on Houston highways leading out of the city.  It was over 100 degrees F.   In sum; many more people died and suffered from that evacuation order, than would have died and suffered if they'd stayed put in their neighborhoods.   

 

npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/08/28/546721363/why-didn-t-officials-order-the-evacuation-of-houston

 

 

 

 

 

Having lived in Houston for 7 years ,I can assure you that most of the houstonians would have picked the north direction to leave ;that would have absolutely flooded Highway 45 I-45 to the north

no way it could hold all those people;

It would have turned out to be the world's largest parking lot ,with a hurricane descending on them

In hindsight, it may be questionable to some ,

but the Houston mayor did the right thing

Edited August 29, 2017 by YetAnother

[Jingthing]

As long as the wires stay up and don't fall into water- I would imagine that the electricity stays on. I waas living in Pathum Thani in 2011 when the water rose to almost 1 meter outside my house and starting entering. The electricity was on the whole time and luckily when the house was built the electrical outlets were placed at mid wall- saving the whole electrical system. I decided to evacuate self and family when I looked out and saw snakes and large lizards floating by in the water and when there were reports of alligators escaping from a nearby alligator preserve .Evacuated by Boat and headed to Sri Racha to wait it out.  Evacuees in the area had parked their cars on the elevated expressway causing a massive traffic nightmare. It took 8 hours to reach Bangkok central city from an area which normally takes 45 minutes.
 
 However, what a mess- clean up and repair was costly.  My heart goes out to the people of Houston. Once the water recedes- what they find will not be good.

Still don't get it. We see pictures of people hanging out inside in high water. If the juice is on couldn't a frayed wire electrocute people? Also did hear a report of the risks rescuers are taking entering flooded houses. Both getting trapped with no exit and electrocution were mentioned as dangers.

To add to the mess gators and snakes are seeking higher ground from the swamps.

So many tragedies there now. Deaths and injuries of course but losing your home and all your possessions is no party either.

[Scott]

4 hours ago, Ulic said:

890 mm or 89 cm certainly not 8.9 meters.

Sorry, and thanks for catching it.   It's 890 mm of rain.   

[zydeco]

Houston is sinking. I don't know if it's doing so faster than Bangkok, but it is going quickly. Every one of these hurricanes/tropical depressions makes it worse. Really, both New Orleans and Houston are doomed cities. People should just give it up and move to Dallas or San Antonio. Leave small cities and towns on the Gulf Coast that can cope.  It appears that some 50,000 people are already being sent to Dallas. I hope they are better guests than the ones from Katrina, who caused a crime wave when they were transferred there.

Edited August 29, 2017 by zydeco

[ChidlomDweller]

3 hours ago, Skywalker69 said:

 

And this fact check shows he's a lying POS who doesn't know the concept of shame.  This article completely debunks his explanation that 2/3 of the bill was pork.  

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2017/08/29/ted-cruzs-claim-that-two-thirds-of-the-hurricane-sandy-bill-had-nothing-to-do-with-sandy/?utm_term=.cdf74adb75b0

[zydeco]

12 hours ago, over it said:

The Houston mayor knows Texans are well versed in hurricanes.

It has been some time since a major hurricane hit the Texas coast. And Houston probably has a huge number new arrivals that had no idea of what they were in for. Lots of newbies live there, now.

[over it]

On 8/29/2017 at 8:08 PM, zydeco said:

It has been some time since a major hurricane hit the Texas coast. And Houston probably has a huge number new arrivals that had no idea of what they were in for. Lots of newbies live there, now.

You're just trying to stir the pot. Give it a break!

 

The Texas community will make sure the people that need help will get it, new or old. 

 

This guy, http://www.kens5.com/news/local/houston-businessman-turns-furniture-stores-into-shelters/468756080, is famous for helping people. He's a much better citizen in Houston than you are in Thailand.

 

McIngvale is a household name in Houston, known for his commercials and a catchy phrase: "Gallery Furniture will save you money!"

He's also, largely known for his philanthropy. He's given to numerous charities.

Edited August 30, 2017 by metisdead
Edited as per fair use policy: 14) You will not post any copyrighted material except as fair use laws apply (as in the case of news articles). Please only post a link, the headline and the first three sentences.

[pegman]

On August 28, 2017 at 7:26 PM, over it said:

The Houston mayor knows Texans are well versed in hurricanes. People come out in droves to help their neighbor. Donations have already started. This is a normal hurricane. One well-prepared refinery is already back online. Next.

Still sticking with "normal"?

[boomerangutang]

7 dead is a low number for such a calamity.  If it was a place like Bangladesh, the numbers would be much higher.

 

Two songs which mention Houston, come to mind.....

 

If you ever go to Houston, boy you better act right

You better not hassle, and you better not fight

'cause the Sheriff will arrest you, and carry you down

You can bet your bottom dollar, you're penitentiary bound."
 

. . . . . . .  from; 'Midnight Special', an old black folk song done by Ledbelly.

- - - - - - -
 

"'Cause all the debutantes in Houston, baby, couldn't hold a candle to you."

. . . . . . . . .from; 'The Long Run' ///  Eagles.

[pegman]

4 minutes ago, boomerangutang said:

7 dead is a low number for such a calamity.  If it was a place like Bangladesh, the numbers would be much higher.

 

Two songs which mention Houston, come to mind.....

 

If you ever go to Houston, boy you better act right

You better not hassle, and you better not fight

'cause the Sheriff will arrest you, and carry you down

You can bet your bottom dollar, you're penitentiary bound."
 

. . . . . . .  from; 'Midnight Special', an old black folk song done by Ledbelly.

- - - - - - -
 

"'Cause all the debutantes in Houston, baby, couldn't hold a candle to you."

. . . . . . . . .from; 'The Long Run' ///  Eagles.

It would be great if it stayed that low but there are a lot of flooded building people may have been trapped in that could bump it up considerably.

[metisdead]

A baiting post has been removed as well as an inflammatory reply. 

[Skywalker69]

Mexico Just Offered Aid For Hurricane Harvey Victims. Trump’s Response Is Telling

 

 

In the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey’s devastating effects on Texas, Mexico released a statement offering disaster relief aid.

 

“The Mexican government … expresses that it has offered to provide help and cooperation to the U.S. government in order to deal with the impact of this natural disaster — as good neighbors should always do in trying times.”

 

The Trump administration, however, has stubbornly refused to accept the offer even as Texas struggles to regain its footing in what the FEMA Director, William “Brock” Long, has called the “worst disaster the state’s seen.”

 

http://occupydemocrats.com/2017/08/29/mexico-just-offered-aid-hurricane-harvey-victims-trumps-response-telling/