More feared dead, Trump vows help, as ‘epic’ Harvey inundates Houston

HOUSTON, Texas — US President Donald Trump warned Monday that Texas faces a “long and difficult road” to recovery after floods triggered by an unprecedented rainstorm, as both floodwaters and the death toll rose with Harvey continuing to pour rain on the Houston area for a fourth consecutive day.

Floodwaters reached the roof lines of single-story homes Monday and people could be heard pleading for help from inside as the nation’s fourth-largest city remained largely paralyzed by one of the largest downpours in US history.

And there was no relief in sight from the storm that spun into Texas as a Category 4 hurricane, then parked itself over the Gulf Coast. With nearly 2 more feet of rain expected, authorities worried whether the worst was yet to come.

There’s “never been anything like it,” Trump said from the White House, a day before he plans to travel to the Lone Star State with First lady Melania Trump.

“It’s the biggest ever, they are saying it is the biggest, it’s historic,” Trump said, addressing a press conference. “There’s probably never been anything like this.”

“I’ve heard the words ‘epic,’ I’ve heard ‘historic.’ That’s what it is,” he added.

Harvey has been blamed for at least three confirmed deaths, including a woman killed Monday in the town of Porter, northeast of Houston, when a large oak tree dislodged by heavy rains toppled onto her trailer home.

A Houston television station reported Monday that six family members were believed to have drowned when their van was swept away by floodwaters. The KHOU report was attributed to three family members the station did not identify. No bodies have been recovered.

Police Chief Art Acevedo told The Associated Press that he had no information about the report but said that he’s “really worried about how many bodies we’re going to find.”

According to the station, four children and their grandparents were feared dead after the van hit high water Sunday when crossing a bridge in the Greens Bayou area.

The driver of the vehicle, the children’s great-uncle, reportedly escaped before the van sank by grabbing a tree limb. He told the children to try to escape through the back door, but they were unable to get out.

The disaster unfolded on an epic scale in one of America’s most sprawling metropolitan centers. The Houston metro area covers about 10,000 square miles, an area slightly bigger than New Jersey. It’s crisscrossed by about 1,700 miles of channels, creeks and bayous that drain into the Gulf of Mexico, about 50 miles to the southeast from downtown.

The flooding was so widespread that the levels of city waterways have either equaled or surpassed those of Tropical Storm Allison from 2001, and no major highway has been spared some overflow.
The city’s normally bustling business district was virtually deserted Monday, with emergency vehicles making up most of the traffic. Most traffic signals were out and most businesses closed.

Elsewhere, water gushed from two reservoirs as officials sought to release pressure on a pair of 70-year-old dams that protect downtown Houston. Water was at risk of spilling around the sides of the barriers, which have a long history of seepage. The move would help shield the business district from floodwaters, but it could also flood thousands more homes.

Meanwhile, rescuers continued plucking people from the floodwaters — at least 2,000 so far, according to Acevedo. At least 185 critical rescue requests were still pending on Monday morning, he said.

Rescuers were giving priority to life-and-death situations, leaving many people to fend for themselves.

Chris Thorn was among the many volunteers still helping with the mass evacuation that began Sunday. He drove with a buddy from the Dallas area with their flat-bottom hunting boat to pull strangers out of the water.

“I couldn’t sit at home and watch it on TV and do nothing since I have a boat and all the tools to help,” he said.

They got to Spring, Texas, where Cypress Creek had breached Interstate 45 and went to work, helping people out of a gated community near the creek.

“It’s never flooded here,” resident Lane Cross said from the front of Thorn’s boat, holding his brown dog, Max. “I don’t even have flood insurance.”

The Red Cross quickly set up Houston’s George R. Brown Convention Center and other venues as shelters.

The center, which was also used as a shelter for Katrina refugees from New Orleans in 2005, can accommodate roughly 5,000 people. By Monday morning, it was already half full.

Trump’s administration assured Congress that the $3 billion balance in FEMA’s disaster fund was enough to handle immediate needs, such as debris removal and temporary shelter for thousands of displaced residents. When lawmakers return next week, a multibillion-dollar aid package is likely to be added to their already packed agenda.

“We’re dealing with Congress,” Trump said, speaking from the Oval Office, “as you know it’s going to be a very expensive situation. We want to take care of the people of Texas and Louisiana when that happens.”

Trump has been eager to show he is on top of the situation, and that he will not make the same mistakes as previous presidents in botching the federal response.

“Things are being handled really well, the spirit is incredible of the people and the coordination between all of the different services, as you know, has been going very well,” he said.

Trump’s trip to Texas comes much more quickly than other presidents may have dared. Along with a high-impact presidential trip comes the risk of hampering recovery efforts and tying up resources.

But the recently inaugurated president indicated he may make a return trip to the region this week.

“We may actually go back on Saturday, depending on where the storm goes we may also go to Louisiana on Saturday.”

Floods expected to worsen

Houston’s 911 system has received 75,000 calls since Harvey inundated the city, including 20,000 just since late Sunday. The city normally averages 8,000 to 9,000 calls per day.

Dozens of Jewish families in Houston were either evacuated or moved to the second floors of their homes due to flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey, the local Jewish Family Service said.

Some 150 neighborhood blocks in the city that are home to members of the Jewish community have been damaged in flooding, as part of the hurricane, the JFS said in a conference call with community leaders, the Texas Jewish Herald-Voice reported.

Gilad Katz, Israels consul general in Houston, said “as far as we know no lives are in danger” among Israeli expats in the city, but described the flooding as devastating.

“It is like they returned to being cavemen. Everyone is waiting for it to end,” Katz told Israel Radio earlier Monday.

In the Cypress Forest Estates neighborhood in northern Harris County, people called for help from inside homes as water from a nearby creek climbed to the same level as their eaves. A steady procession of rescue boats floated into the area.

One man, Joe Garcia, carried his German shepherd in the chest-deep water before being picked up by a boat. Garcia said he floated out a tub of his belongings, then went back in for the dog.

Up to 20 more inches (51 centimeters) of rain could fall in the coming days, on top of the more than 30 inches (76 centimeters) some places have already seen, National Weather Service Director Louis Uccellini said Monday.

That means the flooding will get worse in the days ahead and that the floodwaters will be slow to recede once Harvey finally moves on, the weather service said.

The amount of water in Houston was so unprecedented that meteorologists had to update the color charts on the weather service’s official rainfall maps.

Bands of heavy rain extended to southwest Louisiana, and Gov. John Bel Edwards said flooding could pose a “dangerous situation.”

Images of the devastation in Houston stirred up painful memories for many Hurricane Katrina survivors in Louisiana.

“It really evoked a lot of emotions and heartbreak for the people who are going through that now in Houston,” Ray Gratia said as he picked up sandbags for his New Orleans home, which flooded during the 2005 hurricane.

The Army Corps of Engineers started the releases from the Addicks and Barker reservoirs ahead of schedule early Monday because water levels were increasing at a rate of more than 6 inches (15 centimeters) per hour, Corps spokesman Jay Townsend said.

People living near the reservoirs were warned Sunday about the risk that the releases could cause additional street flooding that could spill into homes.

The Army Corps said it a statement that it was confident that the structures would “continue to perform as they were designed to do.” A $75 million fix to the two dams’ floodgates is slated for completion in 2019.