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| Harvey Live Updates: Houston Grapples With Floods as Trump Visits Texas | Harvey Live Updates: Houston Grapples With Floods as Trump Visits Texas |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| With heavy rain still falling, rivers still rising, rescues still underway, and unknown thousands of people forced from their homes by record-breaking flooding, southeast Texas continued to grapple Tuesday with a long, painful road to recovery. | With heavy rain still falling, rivers still rising, rescues still underway, and unknown thousands of people forced from their homes by record-breaking flooding, southeast Texas continued to grapple Tuesday with a long, painful road to recovery. |
| Harvey, now a tropical storm, has left Houston and much of the Gulf Coast region waterlogged and impassable, in what Gov. Greg Abbott called “one of the largest disasters America has ever faced.” With roads underwater or washed out, and basic services like electricity and water knocked out, it will be weeks before some people can return home, and many of them still do not know if they will have homes to return to. Read more about the storm here. | Harvey, now a tropical storm, has left Houston and much of the Gulf Coast region waterlogged and impassable, in what Gov. Greg Abbott called “one of the largest disasters America has ever faced.” With roads underwater or washed out, and basic services like electricity and water knocked out, it will be weeks before some people can return home, and many of them still do not know if they will have homes to return to. Read more about the storm here. |
| Here’s the latest: | Here’s the latest: |
| • More rain is expected through Friday over parts of the upper Texas coast into southwestern Louisiana, according to the National Weather Service. Parts of Houston have already been inundated by more than 40 inches, and totals could exceed 50 inches there and 20 inches in southern Louisiana. With sustained winds near 45 miles per hour, the storm is not expected to weaken until its center moves further inland early Wednesday. | • More rain is expected through Friday over parts of the upper Texas coast into southwestern Louisiana, according to the National Weather Service. Parts of Houston have already been inundated by more than 40 inches, and totals could exceed 50 inches there and 20 inches in southern Louisiana. With sustained winds near 45 miles per hour, the storm is not expected to weaken until its center moves further inland early Wednesday. |
| • Local officials have so far reported 10 deaths possibly related to the storm, six of them in Harris County, which includes Houston. | • Local officials have so far reported 10 deaths possibly related to the storm, six of them in Harris County, which includes Houston. |
| • The Houston Police Department has rescued more than 3,500 people from flooding since the storm began, Chief Art Acevedo said on Tuesday, up from about 2,000 a day earlier. The city fire chief, Samuel Peña, said his department had performed more than 400 rescues. The Harris County Sheriff’s Office did not have an updated figure on Tuesday, but said it was considerably higher than the roughly 2,200 rescues it reported on Monday. | |
| • President Trump is visiting Texas, arriving in Corpus Christi, then traveling to Austin, the state capital. | |
| • Times journalists are chronicling the storm and its aftermath: Here is an updating collection of the most powerful photographs, and a guide to our coverage. Alan Blinder and Sheri Fink looked at hospitals inundated by patients and water. And Jack Healy visited a San Antonio evacuation center where people were desperate for news from home. | • Times journalists are chronicling the storm and its aftermath: Here is an updating collection of the most powerful photographs, and a guide to our coverage. Alan Blinder and Sheri Fink looked at hospitals inundated by patients and water. And Jack Healy visited a San Antonio evacuation center where people were desperate for news from home. |
| • Follow the Times correspondents reporting on the story on Twitter: Manny Fernandez, Alan Blinder, Julie Turkewitz, Jack Healy, Dave Philipps, Annie Correal, Rick Rojas, Monica Davey, Richard Fausset, Richard Pérez-Peña and Audra Burch. | • Follow the Times correspondents reporting on the story on Twitter: Manny Fernandez, Alan Blinder, Julie Turkewitz, Jack Healy, Dave Philipps, Annie Correal, Rick Rojas, Monica Davey, Richard Fausset, Richard Pérez-Peña and Audra Burch. |
| • Are you in an affected area? If you are safe, and are able to, please share your photos and videos with us. And here is how to help. | • Are you in an affected area? If you are safe, and are able to, please share your photos and videos with us. And here is how to help. |
| Mr. Trump arrived in Corpus Christi on Tuesday for a briefing on relief efforts, and then was to head to Austin for a tour of an emergency operations center and a briefing with state leaders. During a news conference on Monday, Mr. Trump also pledged the federal government’s full support to residents of Texas and Louisiana who are being battered by Harvey. Read more about his visit here. | |
| A levee designed to protect the community of Columbia Lakes, 40 miles southwest of Houston, from the Brazos River was breached Tuesday morning, Brazoria County officials said. | |
| Columbia Lakes is a small resort village with a country club and golf course, and is surrounded by levees. Residents were ordered to “GET OUT NOW!!” according to a Twitter message, although many had already left after a mandatory evacuation order was issued Monday. | |
| Tom MacNeil, an owner of a real estate brokerage in the town, said that residents who were still there told him the breach occurred in a levee alongside a creek that flows into the Brazos. Because the Brazos is rising, the creek backed up and poured through two low spots on the levee. The residents shored up the low spots and there was no water in the streets, Mr. MacNeil said. | |
| But the National Weather Service has forecast that the Brazos, currently just above flood stage at 30 feet, will rise another few feet by Wednesday and go over the levees, which are at 32 feet. | |
| “That’s the scary part we’re watching for,” Mr. MacNeil said. | |
| Water rose to the top of an emergency spillway at a major flood-control reservoir west of downtown Houston on Tuesday morning, threatening to add to flooding in the area. | Water rose to the top of an emergency spillway at a major flood-control reservoir west of downtown Houston on Tuesday morning, threatening to add to flooding in the area. |
| Levels at the Addicks reservoir dam read slightly more than 108 feet, the height at which water should overtop the spillway at the dam’s northern end. But officials said observers had so far seen no sign of water going over the structure. | Levels at the Addicks reservoir dam read slightly more than 108 feet, the height at which water should overtop the spillway at the dam’s northern end. But officials said observers had so far seen no sign of water going over the structure. |
| “We do expect it to happen,” said Mike Sterling, lead water manager for Army Corp of Engineers’ Southwest Division. Efforts to release water through the dam’s gates have not kept the reservoir level from rising. | “We do expect it to happen,” said Mike Sterling, lead water manager for Army Corp of Engineers’ Southwest Division. Efforts to release water through the dam’s gates have not kept the reservoir level from rising. |
| Mr. Sterling said that most of the overflow should enter drainage ditches and eventually flow into Buffalo Bayou, which passes through downtown Houston. But rising water is putting several neighborhoods north of the reservoir, including Twin Lakes, Eldridge Park and Tanner Heights, at risk of more flooding. | Mr. Sterling said that most of the overflow should enter drainage ditches and eventually flow into Buffalo Bayou, which passes through downtown Houston. But rising water is putting several neighborhoods north of the reservoir, including Twin Lakes, Eldridge Park and Tanner Heights, at risk of more flooding. |
| Levels at another nearby reservoir, Barker, are increasing as well and its spillway may overtop soon, Corps officials say. | Levels at another nearby reservoir, Barker, are increasing as well and its spillway may overtop soon, Corps officials say. |
| And in a cruel paradox, the city also has to worry about having enough water. Houston’s Northeast Water Purification Plant, one of three plants that supply water to the city, is flooded. While the system is still working, even with much of its equipment underwater, city officials are worried about their ability to keep it running. | And in a cruel paradox, the city also has to worry about having enough water. Houston’s Northeast Water Purification Plant, one of three plants that supply water to the city, is flooded. While the system is still working, even with much of its equipment underwater, city officials are worried about their ability to keep it running. |
| Thousands of people gathered on green cots under a constellation of fluorescent lights in the George R. Brown Convention Center, the Houston area’s largest shelter. | Thousands of people gathered on green cots under a constellation of fluorescent lights in the George R. Brown Convention Center, the Houston area’s largest shelter. |
| The place smelled like sweat. Flood-soaked residents shivered under blankets. On one wall, a mountain of donated clothing nearly touched the ceiling, and a snaking line of people with pets included a woman with a cage holding bunnies, chickens and at least one chihuahua. Toddlers screamed. Evacuees recounted the day’s horrors. | The place smelled like sweat. Flood-soaked residents shivered under blankets. On one wall, a mountain of donated clothing nearly touched the ceiling, and a snaking line of people with pets included a woman with a cage holding bunnies, chickens and at least one chihuahua. Toddlers screamed. Evacuees recounted the day’s horrors. |
| Amid the chaos, Red Cross workers circled like doting chaperones, carrying cots on their heads, doling out plastic baggies of candy and making sure everyone had the new sweatpants that fit them best. Strangers gathered around phone-charging stations. A mass of volunteers convened in the lobby, ready to assist. | Amid the chaos, Red Cross workers circled like doting chaperones, carrying cots on their heads, doling out plastic baggies of candy and making sure everyone had the new sweatpants that fit them best. Strangers gathered around phone-charging stations. A mass of volunteers convened in the lobby, ready to assist. |
| And by the bathroom stood Estella Aguilar, 87 and 4-foot-6, wearing a red cashmere sweater and carrying a handbag. She’d arrived alone from her home in the city’s Second Ward after learning that Buffalo Bayou threatened to flood her out. “I can’t swim,” she said, “never learned.” | And by the bathroom stood Estella Aguilar, 87 and 4-foot-6, wearing a red cashmere sweater and carrying a handbag. She’d arrived alone from her home in the city’s Second Ward after learning that Buffalo Bayou threatened to flood her out. “I can’t swim,” she said, “never learned.” |
| Ms. Aguilar surveyed the scene. “Everything is special when you’re in this predicament,” she said, rubbing her heart and watching the volunteers. “I love it. You see people helping other people.” | Ms. Aguilar surveyed the scene. “Everything is special when you’re in this predicament,” she said, rubbing her heart and watching the volunteers. “I love it. You see people helping other people.” |
| Arelis Vallecilla, her husband Chad Stearns and their six school-age children bedded down for the night in the convention center, after rising flood waters destroyed their home, their truck and virtually all their possessions. They woke Monday morning to find water had risen to the level of the mattresses they slept on. | Arelis Vallecilla, her husband Chad Stearns and their six school-age children bedded down for the night in the convention center, after rising flood waters destroyed their home, their truck and virtually all their possessions. They woke Monday morning to find water had risen to the level of the mattresses they slept on. |
| “We lost everything,” said Ms. Vallecilla, 38. “We don’t know where we’re going to go and what happens next,” she said. | “We lost everything,” said Ms. Vallecilla, 38. “We don’t know where we’re going to go and what happens next,” she said. |
| The City of Dallas on Tuesday was to open what it calls a “mega-shelter” — the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, outfitted to house up to 5,000 people. Dallas already had smaller shelters taking in people fleeing the storm, and Mayor Mike Rawlings said on Monday that the city has been asked to brace for “numbers that could be up in the tens of thousands.” | The City of Dallas on Tuesday was to open what it calls a “mega-shelter” — the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, outfitted to house up to 5,000 people. Dallas already had smaller shelters taking in people fleeing the storm, and Mayor Mike Rawlings said on Monday that the city has been asked to brace for “numbers that could be up in the tens of thousands.” |
| Shelters have opened as far inland as San Antonio, Austin and Dallas, more than 250 miles from the Gulf Coast, as well as in the storm-ravaged region. In Fort Worth, 30 miles west of Dallas, Mayor Betsy Price said city officials were preparing to activate three shelters at the state’s request. | Shelters have opened as far inland as San Antonio, Austin and Dallas, more than 250 miles from the Gulf Coast, as well as in the storm-ravaged region. In Fort Worth, 30 miles west of Dallas, Mayor Betsy Price said city officials were preparing to activate three shelters at the state’s request. |
| State officials have estimated that shelters have taken in more than 30,000 storm evacuees, and an unknown number of others people have left their homes and made other arrangements. Hundreds of thousands of people live in coastal areas that are under evacuation orders. | State officials have estimated that shelters have taken in more than 30,000 storm evacuees, and an unknown number of others people have left their homes and made other arrangements. Hundreds of thousands of people live in coastal areas that are under evacuation orders. |