Culture

‘Catastrophic’ Harvey Flooding In Houston Prompts Over 1000 Rescues As Waters Continue To Rise

Tropical Storm Harvey, which slammed into Texas as a Category 4 hurricane on Friday night, left devastation in its wake in coastal communities including Corpus Christi and Rockport, the latter of which saw the storm’s first fatality on Saturday. Overnight and into Sunday, the system inundated Houston with over 20 inches of rain — historic, “catastrophic” flooding according to the Weather Channel — and as the above ABC News compilation of social media footage shows, many of the city’s streets were flooded to the point where folks could row down the street.

On Sunday morning, flood waters continued to rise with no signs of slowing.

As of now, CNN reports that emergency personnel have rescued over 1000 Houston residents from their homes. Some still-trapped residents also called into the network to report that they’ve been unable to reach responders due to sheer demand upon the system. Also in Houston, the Harvey death toll has now officially increased to five, which includes one woman who drove into rising water and drowned while attempting to flee her stalled vehicle.

While thousands of residents will likely lose their houses before Harvey subsides, those without homes face an altogether horrifying fight for survival as the ordeal continues. The New York Times featured one harrowing account from a homeless man as he plotted out how to survive the storm — an all-too common plight during disasters as shelters quickly fill up to capacity.

On Sunday morning, water from Buffalo Bayou began to enter local CBS affiliate KHOU’s first floor. Accordingly, the crew moved to the 2nd floor.

Flooding is reportedly so high in some areas that water has nearly reached overhead signs. Here’s an already viral photo of one Highway 610 loop.

Social media photos and videos show the devastation in process.

President Trump, amid his other morning tweets about the border wall and such, has praised ongoing rescue efforts. He dropped “many people” into his verbiage about the historic nature of this flood, and he tweeted, “I will be going to Texas as soon as that trip can be made without causing disruption.”

(Via ABC News, CNN, New York Times, KHOU & Weather.com)