The rains from Tropical Storm Harvey pounded the Houston region on Monday, stranding thousands of residents — many on their rooftops — who frantically waited to be rescued from waters that are expected to keep rising for days.
Many residents turned to social media to get help: “My sister needs help!!!” read one tweet, followed by an address. Officials scrambled to reach those residents, urging private boat owners to pitch in with an enormous and frantic rescue. And with nearly two feet of rain still expected, the authorities worried the worst was yet to come. Here’s the latest:
• With record floodwaters, more than 450,000 people are likely to seek federal aid in recovering from Harvey, the storm that has battered the Gulf Coast for days, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said on Monday.
• The agency has estimated that about 30,000 people will seek emergency shelter, and that federal aid will be needed for years. Read more on the storm here.
• The Houston region now looks like an inland sea dotted by islands, with floodwaters inundating roads, vehicles, and even bridges and buildings. Thousands of people have been rescued from flooded homes and cars.
• On Monday, local officials said the death toll had risen to 10 from five.
“In Harris County, we have six deaths that are potentially flood related,” said Tricia Bentley, a spokeswoman for the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences, which serves as both a medical examiner’s office and crime lab. Officials also reported one death each in Rockport and La Marque, and two in Montgomery County.
• More than 30 inches of rain has fallen on parts of the Houston area since Thursday, the National Weather Service reported, causing catastrophic flooding that officials have called the worst in the state’s history.
• Harvey turned back out to sea on Monday, with the center of the storm reaching the Gulf of Mexico south of Houston, the National Hurricane Center reported. It was expected to turn to the northeast, along the Gulf coast toward far eastern Texas and southwest Louisiana.
Video Harvey, now a tropical storm, pummeled Houston and the surrounding region, bringing catastrophic flooding and killing at least five people. By CHRIS CIRILLO and DAPHNE RUSTOW onPublish DateAugust 27, 2017. Photo by David J. Phillip/Associated Press. Watch in Times Video »Houston Flooding Is Deadly as Harvey Lingers
• Times journalists chronicled the unfolding disaster: We’re sharing a collection of the most powerful photographs and a guide to our ongoing coverage. Alan Blinder witnessed dramatic rescues by the National Guard. He and Sheri Fink looked at hospitals inundated by patients and water. Julie Turkewitz captured the terror felt by Houston’s homeless. And Jack Healy visited a San Antonio evacuation center where people were desperate for news from home.
• Follow Times correspondents tracking the storm on Twitter: @mannyNYT, @alanblinder, @julieturkewitz and @ckrausss in Houston, @jackhealyNYT and @David_Philipps in San Antonio, and @jswatz in New Orleans. Some highlights are here.
• Are you in an affected area? If you are safe, and are able to, please share your photos and videos with us.
The Army Corps of Engineers on Monday began releasing water from flood-control reservoirs, which is likely to worsen flooding in parts of Houston, Mayor Sylvester Turner said.
The Buffalo Bayou, the major waterway flowing west to east through the heart of the city, is already at record-high flood levels, and was projected to remain that way for days, even without the release from the Addicks and Barker reservoirs at the western edge of Houston.
Video Video from Houston before and after Harvey shows devastating flooding, with water concealing some of the surrounding area and deluging highways. By MALACHY BROWNE and AINARA TIEFENTHÄLER on Publish DateAugust 27, 2017. Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images.Watch in Times Video »Houston, Before and After Harvey
“As they increase the water and it comes down, the water level along Buffalo Bayou, in all probability, it will increase,” Mr. Turner said at a news conference. People who were not in a crisis state yesterday may find themselves in a crisis state today,” he added.
With the reservoirs at capacity, the Army Corps began releasing water from them before dawn. Mr. Turner said the release was 5,000 cubic feet per second, and would increase to 8,000.
Video Views of the flooding in Aransas Pass, a town about 20 miles northeast of Corpus Christi. By ARANSAS PASS POLICE DEPARTMENT on Publish DateAugust 27, 2017. .Aerial Video of Aransas Pass, Tex.
Evacuees and residents face a new reality.
Rescues of people stranded by floodwaters continued on Monday throughout southeastern Texas, and Gov. Greg Abbott said the state was sending hundreds more boats and high-clearance vehicles to the region to aid those efforts.
Governor Abbott activated the entire Texas National Guard, except those already deployed or preparing to deploy on other missions, to aid in storm rescue and recovery. He said the order will increase the number of troops involved to 12,000 from about 3,000.
The city of Dallas is opening a “mega-shelter” to house up to 5,000 evacuees from the battered Gulf Coast, and Mayor Mike Rawlings said on Monday the North Texas city has been asked to brace for “numbers that could be up in the tens of thousands.” In Fort Worth, 30 miles west of Dallas, Mayor Betsy Price said city officials are also preparing to activate shelters once the state requests assistance.
In San Antonio, empty warehouses were being readied as shelters for 4,100 evacuees.
Dallas officials said the city began making arrangements to convert its convention center into a giant shelter after a request from state officials. The city is already operating shelters at three local recreation centers, and Mayor Rawlings said city officials would consider other sites in Dallas and the surrounding county.
— JULIE TURKEWITZ in Houston and DAVID MONTGOMERY in Austin.
Waterlogged and abandoned cars are everywhere.
The cars, it seemed, were everywhere, abandoned with few clues as to how their drivers had escaped or what became of those people afterward.
As Harvey continued to unleash itself on Houston, abandoned vehicles became eerie symbols of the storm’s destruction.
Cars sat half-smashed on the side of the road and alone in muddy fields. A red sedan was trapped in a road-turned-river in the Galleria area. A cluster of trucks and S.U.V.s were stuck in a highway-turned-lake on U.S. 59 East.
By one highway ramp, a black vehicle sat surrounded by water, stopped like a dead whale. On an opposite ramp, a semitrailer sat contorted, its front cab facing right in a turn that never fully happened.
— JULIE TURKEWITZ in Houston
Houston officials warn of an ‘extremely dangerous’ situation.
The storm turned eastward early Monday, and it appeared it would stay to the east of Harris County. Forecasters called this good news, but warned that the situation could change. The heaviest bands of rainfall shifted to the northeast, battering places like Beaumont, Texas and Lake Charles, Louisiana.
The Harris County flood control district said the situation remained “extremely dangerous and life-threatening,” and that more intense flooding was on the way. Mandatory and voluntary evacuation orders remained in place in neighborhoods throughout the region.
Facing criticism, Mr. Turner, the Houston mayor, on Sunday defended his decision not to order an evacuation of the city.