Harvey to Re-Enter Houston Area to Possibly Drop Another 20 Inches of Rain

Live coverage towards the end

Hurricane Harvey, now Tropical Storm Harvey is expected to re-enter the Gulf of Mexico and make landfall near Houston. It’s a slow-motion disaster and is being described as a once-in-800 year storm, the Wall Street Journal reported.

It is not expected to regain hurricane strength, the National Hurricane Center reported. After seeing 30 inches of rain, the residents could see another 20 inches.

This could go on until Thursday. Roads are now rivers and homes are inundated. People have lost everything.

Houston has begun to release water from reservoirs because of the strain but that means the water will flood nearby neighborhoods.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been strategically releasing water from the Addicks and Barker reservoirs west of the city overnight. The situation could grow worse and more water will likely have to be released as the reservoirs are pushed to the max. There is a mandatory evacuation order for 10 areas around the levees in Fort Bend Country.

“A flood of this magnitude is an 800-year event and it exceeds the design specifications of our levees, and is potentially dangerous for a good portion of Fort Bend County,” Judge Hebert said. “If you are in a Mandatory Evacuation zone, please leave.”

As many as 30,000 people could end up in shelters. It’s a first-ever storm for Texas according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Brock Long

“This is a landmark event for Texas,” said Mr. Long, who will be traveling to South Texas on Monday.

Long defended the decision to not tell 2.3-2.9 million people to evacuate because of the traffic problems it would have created as roads flooded. The mayor said over 6 million. That’s ridiculous. No one was advocating evacuating 6 million.

On Friday [also on Thursday evening], Mr. Abbott urged coastal residents, including residents of Houston, to “strongly consider evacuating.” But city officials said that wasn’t necessary.

Mayor Turner had said they would have been rescuing them from flooded roads [but they did end up rescuing them from rooftops].

The rescues and control over the disaster so far has been very successful and they were prepared despite it being an 800-year storm. There are ongoing rescue efforts, made difficult by the raging storm.

There have been five reported deaths, one in Houston of a woman who drove into a flooded area of the road.

Mayor Turner said the city was also opening libraries, community centers and other locations as “lily pads” to provide safe harbor in neighborhoods.

“This is a storm that is testing the city of Houston,” he said.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott warned on Sunday afternoon that the flooding might not be over and the rainfall is “likely going to be historic”. Meteorologists are saying the same. Houses are flooding that have never been flooded before.

Citizens with boats are rescuing people and many state boats can’t make it through because of flooding. At least one hospital has been evacuated and 150 roads are flooded throughout Houston.

LIVE COVERAGE:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RT5H-fc8o5k

HURRICANE HARVEY RELIEF EFFORTS

To make a financial donation to Hurricane Harvey relief efforts contact these charities:

• The United Way of Greater Houston: Visit www.unitedwayhouston.org/flood or text UWFLOOD to 41444.
• American Red Cross: Visit www.redcross.org, call 1-800-RED-CROSS or text the word Harvey to 90999 to make a $10 donation.
• Salvation Army: Visit www.helpsalvationarmy.org, call 1-800-SAL-ARMY or text STORM to 51555.

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