The epic flooding Tropical Storm Harvey has unleashed on Houston will likely worsen as federal engineers release water from overflowing reservoirs to keep it from jumping dams and surging uncontrollably into the homes they protect, officials have warned.
Key points:
- As the city braces for more rain officials have been forced to release water from dams
- Thousands of people have been evacuated, services struggling to keep up with calls for assistance
- Weather Service Officials predict Brazos River water could rise to 18 metres
National Weather Service officials were predicting the water could rise to 18 metres, in what has been described as an “800-year flood level”.
About 30,000 residents of the nation’s fourth-largest city were expected to be left temporarily homeless by Harvey, which became the most powerful hurricane to strike Texas in more than 50 years when it came ashore on Friday near Corpus Christi, about 354 kilometres south of Houston.
Death estimates vary, but at least three people have been confirmed killed by the storm, including one woman who was killed when a large tree dislodged by heavy rains from Harvey toppled onto her trailer home.
In scenes evoking the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in 2005, police and Coast Guard teams have rescued about 2,000 people so far, plucking many from rooftops by helicopter.
People marooned in flooded houses were urged to hang towels or sheets outside to alert rescuers.
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Texas Governor Greg Abbott activated all 12,000 members of the state’s National Guard, who joined local police in the effort to rescue people before waters rise again, with another 38-64 centimetr
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