Texas hit by Hurricane Harvey: what we know so far
At least two dead as storm drenches the Gulf Coast
Fears that strong winds and heavy rain could stay in place for days
At least two people have died following Hurricane Harvey’s landfall in Texas on Friday night, after which it began pummeling the Gulf Coast with strong winds and heavy rain. Experts fear it could stay in place for days, causing extensive damage.
The first victim was killed in a house fire in Rockport, which was directly in Harvey’s path when it came ashore. The mayor there urged residents who chose to stay to write their social security numbers on their arms, to make it easier for rescuers to identify them.
The second victim died in floodwaters on Houston’s west side. The woman drove down a flooded street before getting out of her vehicle and her body was found a short distance away, said emergency authorities. It is unclear exactly how she died.
The primary concern now that the hurricane – initially the most powerful to hit the US in more than a decade – has been downgraded to a tropical storm is the possibility of 20-30 more inches of rain falling over the next few days in the area between Corpus Christi and Houston along the Gulf of Mexico, on top of the 20in that has already fallen.
“There is the potential for very dramatic flooding,” said Abbott at a press conference in Austin, the state capital. Dozens of Houston-area roads were already reported flooded.
Tens of thousands of residents have fled inland. Abbott said a voluntary evacuation ordered had been issued for the Brazos river region and a mandatory one for San Bernard, to the south west of Houston. All seven Texas counties on the coast from Corpus Christi to the western end of Galveston Island ordered mandatory evacuations from low-lying areas. Four counties ordered full evacuations and warned there was no guarantee of rescue for people staying behind. Abbott said the state had expanded its disaster declaration by 20 counties, to 50, and had activated 1,800 members of the military to conduct search-and-rescue operations, including with helicopters.
Corpus Christi police said road debris and downed power lines were widespread and that an alleged intruder had been taken to hospital after being shot by a homeowner. The city of Victoria, 30 miles inland, was also badly hit. Shelters were set up as far north as Dallas.
More than 230,000 people are still without power and the governor said it would take several days to restore service.
Key oil and gas facilities along the Texas Gulf Coast have temporarily shut down, virtually assuring gasoline prices will rise in the storm’s aftermath. Nearly one-third of the nation’s refining capacity sits in low-lying areas along the coast from Corpus Christi to Lake Charles, Louisiana, and there is concern about the environmental impact should any flooding cause toxic products to leak into Galveston Bay.
More than 960 flights were cancelled as of midday local time, according to FlightAware, nearly 800 of them scheduled to either depart from or land at Houston’s two airports.
The storm poses the first major emergency management test for Donald Trump, who signed a disaster proclamation on Friday night, releasing federal response funds and resources, and met with cabinet and administration figures on Saturday to discuss the response to the storm.
On Twitter, the president praised his Fema chief, Brock Long, telling him “you are doing a great job”, an unfortunate choice of words that recalled George W Bush’s remark to his own emergency management director, Michael Brown, during Hurricane Katrina: “You’re doing a heck of a job, Brownie.” Long, a former Emergency Management Agency director for Alabama, has been praised as a good choice. Trump has also been criticised for the proposed cuts to Fema in his 2018 budget.
