When Rescues In This Texas City Stopped, Residents Cried Out For Help On Social Media
Floodwaters in Texas continue to rise, creating conditions so severe that people trapped in their homes had no chance of being rescued overnight.
Authorities said 911 lines in Port Arthur ― about 91 miles east of Houston ― were still overloaded as of early Wednesday, and that rescues had to be stopped overnight due to the conditions.
“There’s nothing we can do,” Jefferson County Sheriff Zena Stephens told local news channel KDFM. “We can’t take the boats out right now. The water is rising and it’s coming there and [there’s] no way to get to them.”
People began begging on social media to be rescued. One woman made her first plea on Twitter at 1 a.m. local time:
Lord please! If you have a boat please come get me & my family I'm trying to stay calm but the water is coming in at a fast rate
— J. (@haleeyjay_) August 30, 2017
She tweeted again about three hours later, having been told that rescues wouldn’t resume until daylight. “Water is now waist level & I still have not found any help this is crazy,” she wrote. “My phone is on 9% I’m 35 Wks pregnant ! Please keep calling for me water is waist deep.”
Many others tweeted out addresses of friends and loved ones:
my great grandparents are 90+.. very fragile, they need to be rescued !! 3580 lake Arthur drive in port Arthur off of jimmy Johnson PLZ RT‼️
— Mackenzie Shugart (@mackenzieshug) August 30, 2017
please help my friend is stuck in her home with a family of 10. water is rising
4407 Jasonwood cd port Arthur, tx 77642— Eduardo Reyes ® (@e_reyes7) August 30, 2017
800 10th st.Port Arthur tx !! Please somebody please send help my 1 year old nephew is in there along with the rest of my family PLEASE HELP
— June26💰 (@_noonieee) August 30, 2017
water is now rising at our home. 4248 vassar st port arthur tx! if anyone knows of
any assistance please send them we have a 4month old baby— 11/7 (@Teeeeethegee) August 30, 2017
The Jefferson County emergency management team said it had to wait until daylight to resume rescues.
Video shows raging floodwaters by I-10 as Beaumont-Port Arthur area hit by up to 25 inches of rain overnight https://t.co/YqYWvnl9tq pic.twitter.com/zyEU7qMOfj
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) August 30, 2017
Even people who were removed from their homes continued to fight the elements. Photos on Twitter show floodwaters invading Port Arthur’s Bob Bower Civic Center, where hundreds of evacuees were seeking shelter. People were eventually moved on Wednesday to the Carl A. Parker Multipurpose Center, even though police said the facility contained zero supplies.
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People in Port Arthur are resting in their shelter beds at the Bob Bower Civic Center
Flood Waters nearly reach those sleeping pic.twitter.com/djL3imXoYy— Juan Rodríguez (@_JuanRodriguez_) August 30, 2017
Marcus McLellan, a public information officer for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, told HuffPost that rescue operations were underway Wednesday morning.
Police weren’t able to reach people trapped in their homes because of the rising waters, but law enforcement officials were coordinating with volunteers to locate and transport people to shelter.
“We’re using the volunteers and their boats to get to those individuals,” McLellan said. “To do this on our own, we would have to have a fleet of several hundred boats. ... That’s just not feasible for a city or county to constantly have.”
McLellan said hundreds of people in the county have been rescued from their flooded homes in the last couple of days, thanks in large part to the “very, very valuable” efforts of the volunteers.
“There are just so many people, hundreds up into the thousands, that need assistance,” he said. “No matter how many boats we have, it’s going to take some time.”
This article has been updated with comments from McLellan.
Also on HuffPost
Evacuation Of Pets
Locals are trying to save a colony of bats that are drowning as water reaches the top of a bridge in Houston https://t.co/HbUGj1zdRm pic.twitter.com/thvMnGoFBB
— CBS News (@CBSNews) August 30, 2017
A cattle drive takes to the streets of Dayton, Tx. due to #Harvey #txwx
Video via Rebekah Brand pic.twitter.com/uyg2YDG4aJ— Hilary Scheinuk (@hscheinukphoto) August 28, 2017
One loud and lucky pig rescued from #Harvey high water #Fox26 pic.twitter.com/DRxGaCsVvC
— Greg Groogan (@GrooganFox26) August 28, 2017
A dog was saved from the flooded streets of the sun chase neighborhood in Hamshire. pic.twitter.com/AXzEWzdZes
— Jacque Masse (@jmasse12news) August 28, 2017
This video of Hankamer, Texas police officers saving dogs from a flooded shelter will get you through your day. pic.twitter.com/wQHYBn9JzL
— Adam Best (@adamcbest) August 29, 2017
UPDATE: Frankie & Bear are safe. The two dogs we saw sitting in a boat in a flooded neighborhood have been rescued… https://t.co/HOX03V5Typ pic.twitter.com/oo3IDt81R2
— ed lavandera (@edlavaCNN) August 29, 2017
HEARTBREAKING: This was Saturday. An abandoned dog left alone during the flood in TX. The photographer rescued it
(📷 - @DailyMail ) #Harvey pic.twitter.com/UepRjSlfXK— Matt Rodewald FOX 10 (@Matt_Fox10) August 28, 2017
This article originally appeared on HuffPost.