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Hurricane Harvey continues to pummel the coast of Texas, bringing with it rising flood waters as the rain continues, likely for days. The Weather Channel is predicting up to 40 inches of total rainfall, and catastrophic flooding for the record books. Cities like Rockport, Houston, and Corpus Christi are now in the midst of what is a massive flooding crisis. First responders are overwhelmed, and 911 services are at capacity.
In the early morning hours, the National Weather Service issued a "flash flood emergency for catastrophic life-threatening flooding." Harvey, which made landfall as a category 4 hurricane, has weakened to a tropical storm and is currently stalled over land, accounting for the massive levels of rainfall the area is seeing. The Weather Channel is predicting that this will be one of the worst flooding disasters in U.S. history. So far, at least two people have died and 14 people are injured, according to the Associated Press.
Hospitals in Corpus Christi have reportedly lost power and are running on generator power. About 300,000 people are currently without power. According to The Weather Channel, the southeast Houston metro area had received more than 20 inches of rain in just a 24 hour period. "Our town is destroyed, and it hurts," Fulton Mayor Jimmy Kendrick told the Houston Chronicle.
Officials are expecting things to get much worse in the coming days, and are warning residents to remain in their homes. Harris County Judge Ed Emmett says on CBS News, "We will see more and more air rescues... still the safest place to be is in your home. Don't try and go out in the water."
Port Arkansas mayor Charles Bujan called for a mandatory evacuation and told the Associated Press, “I can tell you I have a very bad feeling and that’s about it."
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