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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
World
Claire Phipps, Sam Levin, Jamiles Lartey, Matthew Weaver and Graham Russell

Thousands await rescue amid 'catastrophic' flooding in Texas – as it happened

Closing summary

  • Former Hurricane-turned-Tropical storm Harvey is regaining strength and continues to batter south-eastern Texas, with life-threatening floods surging through Houston.
  • Many homes have been flooded and thousands of people have sought emergency shelter from the wind and rains. Officials estimate that 30,000 residents are likely to need shelter. Houston’s George R Brown convention center has already exceeded its bed capacity of 5,000, and a location for a second major rescue hub is being sought.
  • At least nine people are reported to have been killed in the storm, including a family of six reportedly killed when their van was swept away, and a man who died on Monday night trying to swim through flooding.
  • An unknown number of people remain stranded in their homes awaiting rescue. Police, military and coast guard, along with volunteer teams, have taken to boats to try to reach those trapped, with some working through the night. Texas governor Greg Abbott has activated the entire state National Guard, tripling the number of active personnel from 4,000 to 12,000.
  • There is expected to be no let-up in the storm’s intensity throughout Tuesday, with up to 20 inches (51cm) – and in some places 50 inches – of further rain forecast for the stricken region. The storm is also due to lash southern Louisiana, where a federal state of emergency has been declared.
  • President Donald Trump and the first lady, Melania Trump, will visit Texas on Tuesday, stopping off at Corpus Christi and Austin to witness the relief efforts.
  • On Monday, Trump defended his decision to announce a pardon for former sheriff Joe Arpaio as the hurricane struck on Friday, saying:

I assumed the ratings would be far higher than they would be normally.

  • The flood damage is expected to cost tens of billions and there are concerns for the longer-term health of people caught up in muddy floodwaters.

Here is our latest news wrap:

Read more

We are closing up the blog for now. Thanks for reading.

John Crosby, a forensic psychiatrist from Manchester, has been caught in Harvey’s path after a week-long road trip through the south of Texas:

I’m currently stranded in downtown Houston in the Hilton Americas hotel next to the convention centre, which is being used as an evacuation point. With the roads and the airport closed there is no chance of me returning home until Sunday.

There is a heavy police presence, and all shops and businesses closed.

It is still raining heavily. We had a tornado warning on Sunday and was told to take cover but thankfully it didn’t materialise.

Downtown is slightly higher than other parts of Houston and is acting as an island, but manhole covers were starting to fail on Sunday.

The hotel is letting us stay as long as we need at a discounted rate. All hotel staff have been working since Friday. We have to wear a wristband to identify us as hotel guests but they are allowing some evacuated people to pay to stay here or purchase meals.

John Crosby’s view from the Hilton Americas hotel, Houston.
John Crosby’s view from the Hilton Americas hotel, Houston. Photograph: John Crosby

If you’ve been affected by the storm and would like to share your story, please contribute here.

Your safety is most important, so please ensure that you’re taking this into account when recording or sharing your content.

Much of the Houston region’s flood planning is designed for so-called 100-year events, which have a 1% chance of occurring in any given year.

“A flood of this magnitude is an 800-year event and it exceeds the design specifications of our levees, and is potentially dangerous for a good portion of Fort Bend county. A 59ft river level threatens to overtop many of the levees in our area,” Robert Hebert, a senior county administrator, said on Monday. The Brazos river may not crest until Wednesday.

So where did hundreds of people go? To the store. Just off Highway 99 there is an immense outpost of Gallery Furniture, a Houston-based enterprise owned by Jim McIngvale, a local celebrity dubbed “Mattress Mack” who has a penchant for promotional flair.

On Monday, it provided the discordant scene of the bedraggled and frightened fleeing an American nightmare and being cared for in a place that is a shrine to the concept of American exceptionalism.

It was at capacity and two dozen people and pets waited outside for space to become available. In the showroom, kids caromed off mattresses set up as a bouncy castle while flooded or pre-flooded adults lounged anxiously on reasonably-priced settees.

Outside, Veronica Torres, her 13-year-old twins, Lou and Victoria, her sister, Carmen, and their German Shepherd, Charlie, sat patiently. “I don’t know if this is going to be one day, a few days or a week,” Veronica said, resting on a comforter provided by the store. “We’ll just wait it out.”

'Worst might be yet to come'

As heavy rainfall continues, and with Harvey strengthening again, there will be no respite for the affected zone on Tuesday.

Associated Press reports:

With nearly 2 more feet (61cm) of rain expected on top of the 30-plus inches (76cm) in some places, authorities worried the worst might be yet to come.

The storm is generating an amount of rain that would normally be seen only once in more than 1,000 years, said Edmond Russo, a deputy district engineer for the Army Corps of Engineers, which was concerned that floodwater would spill around a pair of 70-year-old reservoir dams that protect downtown Houston.

Harvey increased slightly in strength on Monday as it drifted back over the warm Gulf, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Forecasters expect the system to stay over water with 45mph (72kph) winds for 36 hours and then head back inland east of Houston on Wednesday. The system will then head north and lose its tropical strength.

Before then, up to 20 more inches (51cm) of rain could fall, National Weather Service director Louis Uccellini said.

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

On Tuesday or early Wednesday, parts of the Houston region will probably break the nearly 40-year-old US record for the biggest rainfall from a tropical system 48 inches set by Tropical Storm Amelia in 1978 in Texas, meteorologists said.

The amount of water in Houston was so unprecedented that the weather service on Wednesday had to update the colour charts on its official rainfall maps to indicate the heavier totals.

Photographs of Houston taken before and after the storm hit the city show how large swaths of the urban landscape were inundated:

Thousands of people have left or been evacuated from their flooded homes, as officials grapple with the logistics of offering shelter to those needing refuge from the storm.

Houston’s George R Brown (GRB) convention center was set up with beds to receive 5,000 people, but by Monday night, 7,000 had arrived. Authorities said nobody would be turned away, although some would have to sleep on the floor.

Lloyd Ziel, a Red Cross spokesman, said volunteers had created space by pushing beds closer together. But local officials said they would be attempting to open a second major shelter on Tuesday. Other smaller shelters were also open across the city.

Reports from the GRB said the atmosphere inside was calm, as many people settled down to sleep however and wherever they could.

Evacuees shelter in the George R Brown convention center.
Evacuees shelter in the George R Brown convention center. Photograph: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images

Updated

Tuesday looks unlikely to bring respite from the battering effects of Tropical Storm Harvey, with as much as 50 inches (127cm) of extra rainfall forecast to hit some areas.

A statement from the National Hurricane Center has warned of “ongoing catastrophic and life-threatening flooding” spreading from Texas to Louisiana – with effects also felt in Mississippi and Alabama:

Ongoing catastrophic and life-threatening flooding will continue across southeastern Texas. Additional rainfall accumulations of 10 to 20 inches are expected across the upper Texas coast, with isolated storm totals as high as 50 inches.

Please heed the advice of local officials. Do not attempt to travel if you are in a safe place, and do not drive into flooded roadways.

The flood threat has spread farther east into Louisiana. Additional rainfall amounts of 10 to 20 inches are expected in southwestern Louisiana, with rainfall amounts of 5 to 15 inches expected in south-central Louisiana.

Rainfall amounts of 5 to 15 inches are expected in south-central Louisiana and coastal Mississippi and Alabama.

While tropical storm warnings have been extended eastward along the coast of Louisiana and a storm surge watch has been issued, the impacts of winds and storm surge are expected to be secondary compared to that of the rains.

The White House has confirmed some details of the president’s visit to the Harvey-hit region on Tuesday.

As is conventional with such visits, Donald Trump will not visit the most stricken areas, including Houston, as it could interfere with rescue and relief efforts.

Instead Trump, along with first lady Melania Trump, will head to Corpus Christi, Texas, where they will receive a briefing on the relief operation, before leaving for Austin. There, they will tour the emergency operations centre.

In Fort Bend – which is expected to face heavy flooding on Tuesday and Wednesday – officials have had to issue a warning after some residents were reportedly told, wrongly, that they were obliged to evacuate their homes overnight.

Some neighbourhoods in the county, including Sienna Plantation and Pecan Grove, have been issued with mandatory evacuation orders. Others are being advised to stay where they are, particularly during nighttime hours, when some rescue efforts have been suspended.

While the death toll remains unclear, police have said they believe a man has died while trying to swim through floods late on Monday.

A statement from the precinct read:

Just before 11.30pm, a male was seen by multiple witnesses attempting to swim across the flood waters located at Spring Park ridge and SH99 (Grand Parkway).

The white male was approximately 60-70 years in age; his identity is unknown at this time.

The male entered the water and witnesses observed the male go into distress. Witnesses attempted to assist the male but were unsuccessful.

At the time the male is presumed to be deceased. Due to the exceptionally fast-moving flood waters, rescue crews were unable to deploy.

This takes the presumed death toll to nine.

These sliding graphics show two parts of Houston transformed by still-rising flooding:

Overpass
Tidwell Road

Six members of one family are believed to have died after their vehicle became trapped in floodwater. Virginia Saldivar said the passengers – whose bodies have not been found – included her parents-in-law, along with four children aged between six and 16.

Saldivar told the Associated Press that her husband’s brother, Samuel Saldivar, had driven to his parents’ home on Sunday when it began to flood:

She said at some point on their way to safety, a strong current lifted the van and pitched it forward into Greens Bayou. Samuel Saldivar climbed out of the driver-side window but the van’s sliding door was partially submerged and would not open. He yelled at the children to try to escape from the back, but they were unable to.

Virginia Saldivar said her brother-in-law could only watch as the van disappeared under water:

Sam calls my husband and tells him: ‘They’re gone.’ That’s when my husband dropped the phone and started screaming.”

Virginia Saldivar believes her husband’s parents, 84-year-old Manuel Saldivar and Belia Saldivar, 81, drowned along with their great-grandchildren Daisy, Xavier, Dominic and Devy.

Saldivar said the coast guard had told her family they could not search for the bodies until the water recedes.

The children’s mother had left the four with their great-grandparents, she said. The widespread flooding prevented her from getting home until Sunday afternoon.

Saldivar said she has not yet told the children’s father, her son, who she says is in prison for violating parole.

What we know so far

  • Former Hurricane-turned-Tropical storm Harvey is regaining strength and continues to batter southeastern Texas, with life-threatening floods surging through Houston.
  • With many homes flooded, thousands of people have sought emergency shelter from the wind and rains, with officials estimating that 30,000 residents are likely to need shelter. Houston’s main hub, the George R Brown convention center, has already exceeded its bed capacity of 5,000.
  • An unknown number of people remain stranded in their homes awaiting rescue. Police, military and coast guard, along with volunteer teams, have taken to boats to try to reach those trapped, with some working through the night.
  • At least eight people are reported to have been killed in the storm, including a family reportedly killed when their van was swept away in floodwater.
  • There is expected to be no let-up in the storm’s intensity throughout Tuesday, with up to 20 inches of further rain forecast for the stricken region. The storm is also due to lash southern Louisiana, where a federal state of emergency has been declared.
  • President Donald Trump and the first lady, Melania Trump, will visit Texas on Tuesday, stopping off at Corpus Christi and Austin to witness the relief efforts.
  • Trump earlier defended his decision to pardon former sheriff Joe Arpaio during the hurricane on Friday, saying:

I assumed the ratings would be far higher than they would be normally.

  • The flood damage is expected to cost tens of billions and there are concerns for the health of people caught up in muddy floodwaters.
  • On Monday, Texas governor Greg Abbott activated the entire state National Guard, tripling the number of active personnel from 4,000 to 12,000.

Updated

The sheer scale of Harvey – some parts of Texas may experience a year’s worth of rainfall in just over a week – has undoubtedly contributed to the extent of the flooding. The storm has become wedged between two weather systems, one trying to push it north, the other trying to push it south, which means it is likely to continue to pour on Houston for days.

And with that rain the storm is essentially feeding itself, according to the Scientific American. Hurricanes normally pull in moisture from the ocean. But Harvey has dumped so much on Houston that at this point it is reabsorbing that water from the flooded city and hurling it back down.

Experts say that even less volatile storms in the future will cause widespread damage to Houston.

The city’s impermeable roads and sidewalks are built on the coastal prairie and wetlands of the western Gulf, and its topography is flat, with no run-off area for excess water. At the same time, the changing climate means these heavy storms are becoming more frequent.

Reports from Houston say an estimated 7,000 people have so far sought shelter at the George R. Brown convention center, which has a capacity of 5,000 beds for the night.

Many will sleep on the floor or in chairs in the makeshift camp tonight.

Thousands take shelter from the Tropical Storm Harvey at the George R. Brown convention center in Houston.
Thousands take shelter from the Tropical Storm Harvey at the George R. Brown convention center in Houston. Photograph: Marie D. De Jesus/AP
Oscar Galindo, Donato Galindo, 2, Oscar Galindo, 11, Andre Galindo, 9, and Maria Rodriguez take shelter at the George R Brown convention center.
Oscar Galindo, Donato Galindo, 2, Oscar Galindo, 11, Andre Galindo, 9, and Maria Rodriguez take shelter at the George R Brown convention center. Photograph: Marie D. De Jesus/AP

At least 10 cities in the Houston suburbs have instituted nighttime curfews.

Katy, nearly 30 miles (48km) west of downtown Houston along Interstate 10, added its own dawn-till-dusk curfew on Monday “to protect our citizens and property from unauthorised individuals entering our city”, mayor Chuck Brawner said in a statement.

Houston police chief Art Acevedo told reporters on Monday that four suspected looters had been arrested and his department is on the lookout for people who may “move in from around other states and even other cities in other regions to loot and create problems”. He added:

If you try to commit a criminal offence or especially try to take advantage of our citizens that have already been victimised enough by Mother Nature, you can be assured you’ll be arrested.

At almost 11pm local time, search and rescue efforts are continuing in the dark:

Police and coast guard teams have each rescued around 3,000 people, officials said.

Those still trapped in their homes have been urged to hang sheets or towels from their windows so they can be spotted by rescue teams.

Col Steven Metze, public affairs officer, Texas military department, told CNN that rescuers would not be taking a break as night fell:

The men and women of the Texas military are working round the clock and they’re going to keep working. We’ve got to plan to keep it going 24/7.

Officials do not know how many people still need to be rescued, Metze said:

We’re still getting plenty of calls … those have not slowed down, so I know we still have a lot of work to do.

The biggest issue right now is just time: getting to everyone we need to reach.

The Texas military would be bringing in more people, lifting the numbers engaged in rescue work from 3,000 to 12,000. Fourteen helicopters were originally deployed; that is now raised to 22, and will be 46 by Tuesday.

Rainfall 'as high as 50 inches' still to come

A fresh statement from the National Hurricane Center warns of “ongoing catastrophic and life-threatening flooding” spreading from Texas to Louisiana – with effects also felt in Mississippi and Alabama:

Ongoing catastrophic and life-threatening flooding will continue across southeastern Texas. Additional rainfall accumulations of 10 to 20 inches are expected across the upper Texas coast, with isolated storm totals as high as 50 inches.

Please heed the advice of local officials. Do not attempt to travel if you are in a safe place, and do not drive into flooded roadways.

The flood threat has spread farther east into Louisiana. Additional rainfall amounts of 10 to 20 inches are expected in southwestern Louisiana, with rainfall amounts of 5 to 15 inches expected in south-central Louisiana.

Rainfall amounts of 5 to 15 inches are expected in south-central Louisiana and coastal Mississippi and Alabama.

While tropical storm warnings have been extended eastward along the coast of Louisiana and a storm surge watch has been issued, the impacts of winds and storm surge are expected to be secondary compared to that of the rains.

Tuesday looks unlikely to bring respite from the battering effects of Tropical Storm Harvey, but the National Weather Service says it should be moving out of the area by Wednesday:

Updated

The White House has confirmed some details of the president’s visit on Tuesday.

Donald Trump, along with first lady Melania Trump, will head to Corpus Christi, Texas, where they will receive a briefing on relief efforts from rescuers, before leaving for Austin. There, they will tour the emergency operations centre.

Fort Bend county warning

One of the regions that appears most under threat in the coming hours is Fort Bend county, a fast-growing, ethnically diverse area of 750,000 people southwest of Houston that’s about two-thirds the size of the state of Rhode Island.

Many people live near lakes or streams and the Brazos river is of particular concern; it might not crest until late Tuesday or Wednesday. We don’t need to imagine what happens when it floods – it did so last year, with dramatic consequences. And that was a storm far less dangerous than Harvey.

Earlier today I visited a shelter set up in a giant furniture store, which, of course, had plenty of available mattresses. It had reached capacity, with a few dozen people sat outside.

Some had not yet endured flooding in their streets or homes but heeded advice that they were in peril and got out rather than take the risk of being stuck for days in cut-off neighbourhoods, or having to make an emergency call for a rescue if water did inundate their properties.

With hotel rooms scarce and tricky or treacherous conditions on major routes making it hard to drive far, a shelter – even for days – seemed like the best bet.

Fort Bend county judge Robert Hebert gave a press conference on Monday night at which he brought up the spectre of Hurricane Katrina by warning that the county’s levee systems may not be able to withstand Harvey’s sustained rains. The defences, he said, were designed to withstand a so-called 100-year flood: an event with a 1% probability of happening in any one year.

The anticipated rise of the Brazos, Hebert said, “would constitute an 800-year flood … [Harvey] will far exceed the design criteria of these levee districts”.

He added that there are now 14 mandatory evacuation orders; combined with voluntary orders, that amounts to several hundred communities. More than 100 roads are now closed, including the Grand Parkway, a key north-south highway.

There was a bright spot: so far, Hebert said, Harvey had not caused any fatalities in the county.

Few events clarify a president’s effectiveness like a major natural disaster – and for Trump, the stakes are high following a tumultuous summer marked by a deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, an escalating war of words with North Korea and multiple staff upheavals.

Trump will travel on Tuesday morning with Melania Trump, the first lady, to Corpus Christi, a city along the Gulf of Mexico near to where Harvey swept ashore as a category 4 storm late Friday night, thrashing the central coast with torrential rain and 130mph winds.

Trump told reporters he was looking forward to touring parts of the storm-ravaged state, although he said travel will depend on the conditions. He also suggested that he may make a second trip to the region to visit Texas and Louisiana, which is now in the storm’s path.

In a pair of interviews on Monday, Mike Pence said Trump is “fully engaged” and “anxious” to visit Texas.

The White House released photographs from the weekend of Trump leading a teleconference monitoring the storm. In the photos, Trump is sporting a USA cap available for purchase on his campaign website for $40.

On Friday night, Trump signed a federal disaster declaration to support the relief effort in Texas, and on Monday he also approved a federal disaster declaration in Louisiana to aid with relief efforts there.

Donald Trump receives an update on Hurricane Harvey.
Donald Trump receives an update on Hurricane Harvey. Photograph: ddp USA/REX/Shutterstock

The Houston police officers’ union says that hundreds of officers currently on rescue duty have yet to return to their own flooded homes – and some will have nothing to return to:

Amid the reports from Harvey’s path are, inevitably, some that are untrue.

For one, Barack Obama is not serving meals to displaced people in Houston (thank you, Snopes).

And that photo of a shark apparently swimming in the flooded streets of Houston? No. (Here’s that one debunked by Politifact.)

What could be the longer-term effects on health of Harvey? In the immediate aftermath, concern will focus on public health dangers associated with muddy floodwaters; later will come the lasting effects of trauma, Associated Press reports:

It’s not known yet what kinds or how much sewage, chemicals and waterborne germs are mixed in the water. For now, health officials are more concerned about drownings, carbon monoxide poisoning from generators and hygiene at shelters. In the months and years to come, their worries will turn to the effects of trauma from Hurricane Harvey on mental health.

At a shelter set up inside George R. Brown Convention Center, Dr David Persse, Houston director of emergency medical services, is building a clinic of doctors and nurses:

This is rapidly evolving. I always worry in these large congregations of people about viral outbreaks that cause nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea. And we are just getting started.

One of our goals is to appropriately treat people here with minor things so we don’t send everybody off to the hospital.

Volunteers at the George R. Brown Convention Center.
Volunteers at the George R. Brown Convention Center. Photograph: Scott Clause/AP

Many of the around 3,000 people who fled from Harvey’s flooding waited hours in water mixed with sewage, oil and gasoline. Some weren’t able to grab their medications or medical devices.

The US Environmental Protection Agency will begin sampling the floodwaters as soon as possible, said spokeswoman Liz Bowman. EPA teams will also be visiting water and sewage plants to offer help, she said.

The most common flood-related deaths occur when people try to drive through flooded areas, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A further mandatory eviction notice has been issued, this time for residents in the Water District, Northwood Pines subdivision. It’s currently 8.50pm local time – the warning states that roads could become unpassable by 11pm.

Houston’s major evacuation shelter is full – with many people still arriving.

Lloyd Ziel, a Red Cross spokesman, said around 5,500 evacuees have reached the George R. Brown Convention Center, which has a capacity of 5,000.

With only 5,000 cots available, some people will have to sleep on the floor or on chairs.

Sylvester Turner, Houston’s mayor, says plans are underway to set up a further major shelter, but the location for that hasn’t yet been revealed.

Other smaller shelters are named on this list.

Louisiana’s Cajun Navy – a volunteer rescue group formed in the wake of the devastating Hurricane Katrina in 2005 – has been in Texas helping to rescue some of the many stranded residents.

Clyde Cain told CNN that the Louisiana group “brought about 20 boats … other boats have been coming … We’ve been running rescues as best we could, weather conditions as they are.”

Cain said the group has had to pause rescue efforts because of the weather.

Volunteers have brought their boats to aid official rescue efforts – here at the east Sam Houston Tollway.
Volunteers have brought their boats to aid official rescue efforts – here at the east Sam Houston Tollway. Photograph: Melissa Phillip/AP

A weather update – and there is no relief in sight for the people of Houston.

Heavy rain is continuing to develop across the city and is expected to fall through the night.

Flash flooding risks remain very high. In the most affected zone, up to 12 inches (30.5cm) of rain is expected between now and Tuesday evening. Across the area, between 4 and 8 inches of rain are forecast.

Residents in Inverness Forest and Northgate have now been issued with a mandatory evacuation order.

Here was the scene at the Inverness Forest levee earlier on Monday, as water levels continued to rise:

As night falls in the affected area, around 120,000 people are without power – something that is also hampering rescue efforts:

With officials saying 30,000 people will need shelter as Harvey’s effects intensify, the city of Houston, Harris county and the Red Cross are providing details of shelters available to those forced out of their homes.

You can see the full list here.

The first large group of Harvey evacuees arrived in Dallas an hour ago, Associated Press reports:

A steady rain met a US air force C-130 transport plane as it landed at Dallas Love Field about 6.30pm Monday with about 70 evacuees. Pet dogs barked as evacuees carrying trash bags and backpacks were loaded on to a bus shortly after landing.

Dallas county judge Clay Jenkins says the plane was the first of a possible eight planeloads of evacuees expected to be flown into Dallas.

The evacuees will be housed at smaller emergency shelters around the Dallas-Fort Worth area while city workers, partner organisations and volunteers finish preparing the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in downtown Dallas.

Jason Carriere, the police department emergency management coordinator in the Dallas suburb of Irving, said in a Monday email that Irving’s makeshift emergency shelter was prepared to take in about 200 people.

As many as 5,000 evacuees may begin arriving on Tuesday.

This is Claire Phipps picking up the live blog as the stricken region heads towards nightfall.

Several thousand people are already using emergency shelters, having been forced from their homes: close to 5,000 are spending the night in the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston. Officials are asking for donations of blankets and clothing.

Updated

The latest on Harvey

  • Record floods have hit Houston, with meteorologists calculating that Harvey is on track to saturate south-east Texas with enough water to fill every National Football League and Division 1 college stadium in the US more than 100 times over.
  • Authorities said Monday that 2,000 people had been rescued from the city, and it is expected that 30,000 will need shelter.
  • The death toll was rapidly rising on Monday, with reports of as many as nine dead, including a family reportedly killed when their van was swept away.
  • Donald Trump is scheduled to visit Texas on Tuesday after facing sharp criticism for a series of unrelated tweets during the height of the hurricane and aftermath.
  • The Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) said its response to Harvey was “quickly drawing down” the reserves in the agency’s disaster fund.
  • Trump told reporters that his threats to shutdown the government over his proposed border wall would not impact funding for the storm recovery.
  • The president also defended his controversial decision to pardon former sheriff Joe Arpaio during the hurricane on Friday, saying, “I assumed the ratings would be far higher than they would be normally.”
  • Harvey flood damage is expected to reach into the tens of billions, causing the region’s economy to shrink for months.
  • Texas governor Greg Abbott activated the entire state National Guard on Monday, tripling the number of active guardsman from 4,000 to roughly 12,000.
  • Trump has also issued a federal state of emergency for Louisiana.
  • The US Army Corps of Engineers began to release water from two Texas reservoirs, which officials say is causing flooding to surrounding homes, but is necessary to prevent greater damage.

The Guardian’s Rory Carroll continues to report on the ground at the site of a volunteer rescue effort:

A mini-Dunkirk is playing out in parts of Woodlands, just north of Houston, where volunteers with boats and life jackets are extracting residents trapped amid rising floodwaters. In the High Oaks neighbourhood, at least five privately owned boats plucked people, pets and property from homes lining streets and avenues which had become waist-high bayous.

The Woodlands fire department supplied another two boats. “This is just beautiful, everyone wants to help out,” said one fire department official watching the scene. “I’ve never seen a flood or a response like this.”

The nursing home residents who were trapped in a flooding facility – captured in a photo that quickly went viral on Twitter – have been rescued and are now “safe, warm and dry”. Here is a new photo of them:

Tim McIntosh, whose mother-in-law owns the facility in Dickinson, Texas, told the AP that the National Guard rescued 20 people on Sunday, hours after he shared his photo on social media.

“They are all doing fine,” said McIntosh, who said the owner of the facility had made arrangements to evacuate the residents, but had kept them in place at the direction of local authorities. “The nursing home had to follow protocol because it’s a big ordeal to evacuate it. These ladies are on wheelchairs and most of them on oxygen.”

Harvey slightly increased in strength as it went back to warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, according to a new update from the National Hurricane Center.

The AP reports that the tropical storm now has sustained winds of 45 mph (72 kph), up 5 mph (8 kph):

Forecasters expect Harvey to stay over water and at 45 mph (72 kph) for 36 hours and then head back inland east of Houston sometime Wednesday. The forecast has the storm then zipping north and losing its tropical storm strength and then its tropical characteristics.

A 60-year-old was killed on Monday after a tree fell on her trailer, according to local reports. The woman, who lived in Porter, was reportedly sleeping when her home was crushed.

The Associated Press reports: “Porter Fire Department firefighters had to wade through chest-level water to evacuate the woman’s husband, remove the tree and extract the body.”

Authorities are also investigating reports that a family of six may have drowned in a van Sunday afternoon while trying to escape the floods, according to KHOU 11 News, which called the fatalities the “single deadliest incident resulting from the storm” thus far.

Police official Art Acevedo told the AP he didn’t have information on the report but said he’s “really worried about how many bodies we’re going to find”.

Footage of flooding and rescues

Here’s a compilation of footage from the ongoing flooding in Texas, where 30,000 people are expected to be displaced to shelters:

Trump defends Arpaio pardon during Harvey

Trump was questioned about his decision to pardon former sheriff Joe Arpaio on Friday as Hurricane Harvey hit Texas. The president said he did it because of the “ratings”:

A lot of people think it was the right thing to do, John. And actually in the middle of a hurricane, even though it was a Friday evening, I assumed the ratings would be far higher than they would be normally, you know the hurricane was just starting. And I put it out that I had pardoned, as we say Sheriff Joe.

Trump claimed Arpaio was “treated unbelievably unfairly” and listed off controversial pardons under previous presidents. Arpaio was found guilty of contempt for his refusal to stop racially biased patrols.

Trump: 'You’re going to get your funding'

At his afternoon press conference, a reporter questioned Trump on his threats to shutdown the government if Congress does not agree to fund his border wall and whether the dispute could affect funding for the recovery in Texas. The president responded:

It has nothing to do with it, it is separate. This is going to go very quickly...

You’re going to see very rapid action from Congress. You’re going to get your funding. It’s a terrible tragedy. You’ll have what you want very quickly.

Sam Levin in San Francisco here, taking over our live coverage of Harvey. Trump is speaking now at a press conference:

“Tragic times such as these bring out the best in America’s character – strength, charity and resilience. ... We see neighbor helping neighbor, friend helping friend, and stranger helping stranger. ... We’re one American family. We hurt together. We struggle together, and believe me, we endure together...

We ask God for his wisdom and strength. We will get through this. We will come out stronger. We will be bigger, better, stronger than ever before. The rebuilding will begin, and in the end, it will be something very special. It has been absolutely incredible to watch the spirit, the cooperation, the love.”

With boat-owning good samaritans flooding into the Houston area to help with recovery and relief missions, especially from southern Louisiana bayou country, we thought it might be a good time to revisit this video on the so called “Cajun Army”.

The Cajun Army: how a community fought the Louisiana floods

Harvey death toll reaches eight, officials confirm

KHOU is reporting that six residents died in a flooded van Monday bringing the storm’s death toll to at least eight. According to KHOU the victims were four minor siblings and their elderly great grandparents.

Two other storm-related fatalities in Rockport and La Marque, Texas had already been reported over the weekend.

Our Adam Gabbatt talks to experts about what makes Houston so tragically flood prone:

Flooding is nothing new to Houston residents. Over the past five decades no other urban area in the country has experienced as many casualties and property loss from flooding.

In 2015, eight people died in what local media described as “historic flooding”. In 2016, what became known as the “tax day floods” saw three waterways in the city exceed their “500-year flood levels”. Six people died.

The size of tropical storm Harvey – some experts estimate it has already dumped 12tn gallons of rain in Houston and south Texas – is unusual. But there is no single reason for the extent of the impact it has had at street level.

“It’s a combination of factors,” said Sam Brody, a professor in the department of marine sciences at Texas A&M University. “It’s a very low-lying coastal plain, with clay-based soils that do not drain very well. The city is subject to very heavy rainfall, as well as flooding from tidal events.

“You take that flood-risk landscape and you put six million people on top, with prolific amount of pavement and roadways and a lack of collective and regional thinking about what that does to the natural drainage of that landscape, and you end up with disasters.”

Read more here...

Updated

Bulls on parade

Talk about unprecedented...

Our Tom Dart speaks with more Houstonians bearing the aftermath of Harvey’s landfall:

On an ordinary day, Judy Le lives in a four-bedroom house with her husband and two children.

But these are not ordinary times, and as Brays Bayou swelled early Sunday morning and burst its banks, inundating the Bellaire and Meyerland neighbourhoods, Le had 23 people under her roof. Not to mention eleven dogs and two cats.

Though her house lost power and is only a couple of blocks from the bayou, it is a new-build, in contrast to the old single-storey ranch style homes common in the area, and was protected by a berm that did its job.

Many of her neighbours were not so lucky.

Some had felt confident since their homes did not flood during tropical storm Allison, which hit Houston hard in 2001. “On Saturday all the kids were playing together, it was completely dry, all having a good time,” Le said by phone.

Then at 5am on Sunday, she got a text from a neighbour: things were getting very ugly, very fast. “We all kind of jumped into action,” Le said. “It was just go time from there.”

Neighbours helped neighbours along streets that were soon only navigable by boat, as helicopters rescued the most needy. And Le had a couple of dozen surprise, and very welcome, guests. “My family were Vietnamese refugees,” she said. “My refugee roots were serving me well.”

Updated

Guardian readers have been getting in touch to share their stories.

CJ Hall has told us that her husband witnessed a tornado touch down by the Berry Center, a sport complex in north-west Houston at 4pm on Saturday. “It tore out trees, the door off Walgreens and flipped a truck as if it was a toy. He and a few other guys helped the shocked driver out of the truck.”

The scene after a tornado near Barker Cypress Rd in north west Houston, Texas.
The scene after a tornado near Barker Cypress Rd in north west Houston, Texas. Photograph: Courtesy CJ Hall/GuardianWitness

Updated

Meteorologist weighs in on what's made Harvey such a uniquely devastating storm

Six trillion gallons of water, or 24in of rain, representing half Houston’s annual total, have fallen on the city in the past 48 hours. Even more has fallen on the much larger Houston metropolitan area. Scientific American just posted a fascinating interview with Jeff Masters, co-founder of Weather Underground, who explains Harvey’s extraordinary destructive potency.

On Wednesday it was a tropical storm. By Friday it had been supercharged from a category one hurricane to category four. That’s because Harvey passed over an area of extremely warm ocean water called an eddy. The hot spot was one to two degrees F warmer than the surrounding Gulf of Mexico, which is already one to two degrees F higher than normal at 85 or 86F in some places.

SA also explains that Harvey has become wedged between two areas of high-pressure, one system over the south-eastern US, the other over the south-western US. The dueling systems are trying to push Harvey in opposite directions, effectively wedging it in place.

The last time that happened to a comparable storm system was Hurricane Mitch in 1998 that killed an estimated 7,000 people in Honduras.

Masters also answers the question why Harvey is still producing so much rain despite being mostly over land. He says Harvey has dropped so much water over such a large area of south-eastern Texas that the storm is pulling that water back up into itself and dumping it again as more rain.

“You only need about 50% of the land to be covered with water for that to happen,” Masters told the magazine. “Obviously we have more than that in Texas.”

Finally, he explains why the flooding in Houston is so severe. Masters calls it “compound flooding” when water swollen rivers heading to the sea meet a storm surge coming inland. In Galveston the sea surge was about three feet, but the actual water surge was about nine feet. “The water piles up from both sides,” Masters says.

But the good news in what is otherwise an apocalyptic scenario for the residents of Houston, is that a low-pressure trough system has been setting up north of Harvey and could being to pull it northward by the end of the week.

Updated

Our correspondent has more from Houston:

Flood waters were rising to a foot and higher at an intersection to the west of George Bush Park on Monday morning, making the crossroads impassable to all but a few drivers with elevated pick-up trucks and an elevated taste for risk.

Mike Schulz and his friend Jason Horn arrived on bicycles to survey the scene, which is likely to worsen as the US Army Corps of Engineers releases more water from an overtaxed nearby reservoir.

Asked if he had ever seen anything like it, Schulz said: “On TV … not here. It’s like monsoon season.”

The men live about a mile away from the voluntary evacuation zone but planned to stay put. Schulz, 43, said his home was currently dry and he felt property damage was more of a risk than loss of life.

He was unfazed about the notion that the Corps’ decision to open the dam for the greater good – rather than the direct impact of water straight from Harvey – could contribute to submerging the area for days, seeing short-term pain but gain in the long run.

“It’s a long-term solution to release the pressure up here,” he said.

Even in these exceptional circumstances, obedience to the rules of the road was on show. Before sending their vehicles into ever-deeper water, truck drivers waited patiently at the empty intersection for the red lights to turn green.

Updated

Texas Governor Greg Abbott activates entire state National Guard

This triples the number of guardsman active in the state from about 4,000 to about 12,000.
“It is imperative that we do everything possible to protect the lives and safety of people across the state of Texas as we continue to face the aftermath of this storm,” Abbott said.

Guardsmen are expected to assist in the ongoing search and rescue efforts, and to be “heavily involved” in the recovery effort after the storm finally passes, according to the governor’s office.

Updated

After giving the city of Houston a welcome break for much of the early morning, the rain has returned – and hard, with some areas now seeing in excess of an inch in the past hour. It’s one of Harvey’s cruel tricks: a pause in precipitation gives rise to hopes that we may be coming towards the end of the worst, then the rain returns with a vengeance.
It’s especially bad news for those living near bayous, where water levels had started to dip slightly in some places, and in the badly-hit neighborhoods to the west around Buffalo Bayou where the US Army Corps of engineers is making controlled releases of rapidly-rising reservoir water. One sensor along Buffalo Bayou close to downtown indicates that the water has risen to nine foot above the top of the bank.

Rain from Tropical Storm Harvey falls as a firefighter is wheeled to a waiting ambulance after he became fatigued while fighting an office building fire in downtown in Houston, Texas, Monday, Aug. 28, 2017.
Rain from Tropical Storm Harvey falls as a firefighter is wheeled to a waiting ambulance after he became fatigued while fighting an office building fire in downtown in Houston, Texas, Monday, Aug. 28, 2017. Photograph: LM Otero/AP

Updated

Trump is Texas bound

The White House is thought to be planning for a morning or mid-afternoon visit from Donald Trump to Corpus Christi on Tuesday, about 200 miles south-west of Houston. Trump is avoiding the hardest hit areas because of the challenges a president presents for local officials. First lady Melania Trump is expected to accompany Trump.

Updated

As seen in the situation room?

Speaking with CNN, Democratic Texas congressman Al Green, whose district was hard hit by Harvey, defended the Houston mayor’s decision not to order mandatory evacuations by raising the example of troubles the city faced during the 2005 evacuation for Hurricane Rita.

With Rita we had maybe 2-3 million people out on the road. They were out there with heatstroke, people were out there literally fighting... People literally lost their lives while out on the road trying to get to another city...

The mayor has the resources here. Trying to get resources to people who are on the road, in cars, don’t know what the weather is going to be like, out of gas, it can be very difficult...

I think the mayor made the right call. There will always be people who will second guess but if you had a million people out on the roads, trying to take care of them when your resources are here in Houston, it could be very difficult.”

Updated

A message from George HW Bush and Barbara Bush “to their fellow Houstonians and Texans” affected by tropical storm Harvey:

“Barbara and I are in Maine, but our hearts are in Houston. We are praying for all of our fellow Houstonians and Texans affected by Harvey, and truly inspired by the flotilla of volunteers – points of light all – who are answering the call to help their neighbors. We salute them, the first responders, and the local elected officials for their grit and determination in the face of this extraordinary storm. This we know: Houston, and Texas, will come together and rebuild.”

Updated

There are 5,500 residents currently in shelters “and I suspect that number is going to rise,” Mayor Turner said.

“Things are dynamic. People who were not in crisis yesterday may be in crisis today.”

“The goal is rescue. That’s the major focus for the day and that’s my directive,” said Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner in a Monday morning press conference who said the city has “more assets today” than yesterday.

The city’s 911 switchboard has fielded 75,000 emergency calls as of 9am CDT this morning, according to officials.

Houston police chief Art Acevedo says his department has completed the rescue of “2000 Houstonians and members of our community.”

Acevedo said 185 critical rescue requests are still pending and that his department’s goal “is to complete the rescues of all critical missions today.”

Acevedo said four would-be looters have been arrested by his officers and added “the one thing you can be assured, if you try and take advantage of our citizens who have been victimized enough by mother nature,” you’ll be arrested.

Updated

We are expecting an official update on the storm and relief efforts from Houston’s mayor, Sylvester Turner, and police chief Art Acevedo any minute now.

Updated

If you’ve been affected by the storm, you can share your stories, pictures and video with us by using the blue “contribute” button at the top of this page or this form. Your stories will help our journalists develop a more complete picture of these events and we will use them in our reporting.

Your safety is most important. Do not take any risks when recording or sharing your story.

Updated

By the numbers on Harvey in the Houston Metro Area:

  • 276 high water locations along major Houston-area roads
  • 80,000 electricity customers without service
  • 18 helicopters used in rooftop rescue efforts
  • 4,000 national and state guard members activated to assist with storm aftermath (including an additional 1,000 called up Monday morning).

Source: Houston Chronicle

A map from Houston Transtar showing reports of high water on Houston-area roadways.
A map from Houston Transtar showing reports of high water on Houston-area roadways. Photograph: Houston Transtar

Updated

The Harris County Flood Control District said that roadways running through the two reservoirs that have had water intentionally released “are underwater and will remain impassable for several weeks to several months”.

According to our Tom Dart, these are important highways and will likely present residents with many weeks of disruption, diversions and heavy traffic as they try to put pieces back together in Harvey’s aftermath.

The Army began releasing water from the Addicks and Barker reservoirs into Buffalo Bayou (pictured) earlier this morning.
The Army began releasing water from the Addicks and Barker reservoirs into Buffalo Bayou (pictured) earlier this morning. Photograph: LM Otero/AP

Updated

For our metric system readers, that is just shy of 42 trillion liters. Some parts of the area could receive as much as 50 inches (127cm).

Louisiana now joins Texas with federal emergency status.

Updated

Rains have, at least in the short term, slowed in Houston giving residents a reprieve from the deluge, but as far as the flooding goes there’s no end in sight. Our Tom Dart has this from the city:

Dawn broke with the relatively good news that most places in the Houston area received less than an inch of rain over the previous six hours, with heavier rans to the east around the Texas-Louisiana border.

Still, the National Weather Service cautioned of “days of dangerous flooding potential ahead for parts of Texas and Louisiana” and rains were forecast to pick up again on Monday.

There were concerns that water levels are still rising in Fort Bend County, southwest of central Houston, with the Brazos River expected to crest on Tuesday afternoon or evening.

“A flood of this magnitude is an 800 year event and it exceeds the design specifications of our levees, and is potentially dangerous for a good portion of Fort Bend County. A fifty-nine foot river level threatens to overtop many of the levees in our area,” Robert Hebert, the county judge, said in a statement early on Monday. “As a result, I am ordering both voluntary and mandatory evacuations for many of the levee improvement districts along the Brazos River.”

Flooding in the north of the county was also a risk as sharply-rising reservoir levels prompted the US Army Corps of Engineers to begin releasing water from two dams in far west Houston overnight in order to protect a large area of the city, but at the possible expense of neighbourhoods surrounding the dams and reservoirs.

Updated

Disturbing scenes from ABC’s Good Morning America as a woman stuck on her roof is interviewed live.

The areas hit by catastrophic flooding are likely to expand over the next few days, according to Louis Uccellini, director of National Weather Service.

Here are his key quotes from the briefing:

There is still uncertainty as we are dealing with this track.

In respect to Houston we are in a lull right now, but will get back into moderate to heavy rains later today and then into tomorrow.

Those bands that have been sitting over Houston, one has shifted off to the north-east. We have a report of over 30 inches of rain so far near Houston.

There is about a 15 to 20 inch rainfall still forecast. And note also the shift towards the east, south-west Louisiana, wester Louisiana, and going into north east Texas. We need to watch that area very carefully.

The peak flow in depth of this flood will max out in the Wednesday/Thursday time frame.

The flooding will be very slow to recede. We are seeing catastrophic flooding and this will likely expand and persist as it is slow to recede.

Brock Long, the director of Fema, urged ordinary citizens to help with the rescue and relief effort.

Here are the key quotes from his statement:

This is a life-safety, life-sustaining mission. Right now in addition to search and rescue, the next objective is to stabilise disaster survivors. We have got to get them into shelters. We are anticipating over 30,000 people being placed in shelters temporarily.

Security is also a main concern ...

Helping Texas overcome this disaster is going to be far greater than Fema coordinating the mission of the federal government. We need citizens to be involved. This is a landmark event. We have not seen an event like this, you could not dream this forecast up. It has been a very challenging effort ... It is going to continue on. We need the whole community effort, it is going to require the citizens getting involved.

We are expecting over 450,000 potential registers of disaster victims. That is a huge number. We have already processed nearly 15,000 calls over the last 24 hours.

I’m asking for all citizens to get involved: donate your money; figure out how you can get involved, as we help Texas find a new normal after this devastating disaster.

Elaine Duke, acting homeland security secretary, said the government is “deeply concerned” about the plight of those in and around Houston.

Here are the key quotes from her statement

Today we are deeply concerned with those in Houston and surrounding areas who are stranded and in need of immediate assistance.

While hurricane force winds have diminished, I want to stress that we are not out of the woods yet, not by a long shot. Harvey is still a dangerous and historic storm.

Life-threatening flooding will occur over a large proportion of south central and south-east Texas in the coming days.

It is vitally important for those in Texas and Louisiana to monitor your local radio and TV stations for updated emergency information and listen to the direction of your local officials.

Under the president’s direction we have made every resource available to respond to this historic storm. We are committed to getting the resources local officials need as soon as possible.

The press conference ended without any update on the number of people killed in the flooding.

Paul Zukunft, commander of the US coast guard, said thousands of lives are being saved by his crews.

He said he was concerned by the number of drones in an already crowded airspace. He warned that the using private drones could hamper rescue efforts.

Long said that evacuation of Houston could take days, but it has not yet been ordered. He advised residents to listen to local officials before deciding whether they should leave their homes.

He said it was not time to start pointing blame on officials who have already ordered evacuations.

NWS: 'catastrophic flooding' to persist

Louis Uccellini director of National Weather Service warned that “catastrophic flooding” is likely to persist.

He said moderate to heavy rain will resume later on Monday after a brief lull. Flooding is expected to peak on Wednesday and Thursday, Uccellini said.

He pointed out that 30 inches of rain had fallen on Houston since the storm hit on Friday.

Fema: 30,000 people will need shelter

US emergency officials are giving a press briefing.

Elaine Duke, acting homeland security secretary, says the government has made every resource available to deal with the storm and to get help to local officials as quickly as possible.

Brock Long, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said between 30 to 50 counties could be hit by the storm.

He said Fema estimates that 30,000 people will need to be placed in shelters.

Long described the storm as a “landmark event”.

Col Lars Zetterstrom defended the reservoir releases on CNN. He said: “We are doing controlled releases from both Addicks and Barker dams to minimise the volume of uncontrolled releases.

“I totally understand that the citizens of Harris county and Houston are worried about us releasing this water, but the water is going to go into the Buffalo Bayou no matter what we do, because of what mother nature is doing.”

Army releases water from two reservoirs

The US Army Corps of Engineers is starting to release water from two Houston-area reservoirs, Reuters reports.

The release will cause flooding to homes in the surrounding communities but is necessary because the reservoirs have risen too quickly.

The Corps of Engineers said it needs to release water now to prevent uncontrolled water flowing from the dams. Water is being released from the Addicks and Barker into Buffalo Bayou, the primary body of water running through Houston.

“If we don’t begin releasing now, the volume of uncontrolled water around the dams will be higher and have a greater impact on the surrounding communities,” said Col Lars Zetterstrom, Galveston District commander of the Corps.

The release is expected to start flooding homes around the Addicks and Barker reservoirs on Monday morning, the Harris County Flood Control District said

Evacuees are unloaded from the back of an open bed truck at the George Brown Convention Center.
Evacuees are unloaded from the back of an open bed truck at the George Brown Convention Center. Photograph: Nick Oxford/Reuters

More than 2,500 people are taking shelter in Houston’s George Brown Convention Center, according to CNN.

The centre tweeted that evacuees and their pets are welcome, but they urged people not to take guns into the makeshift shelter.

Evacuees Danielle White and her husband Lorenzo White wait to get into of the George Brown Convention Center
Evacuees Danielle White and her husband Lorenzo White wait to get into of the George Brown Convention Center. Photograph: Nick Oxford/Reuters

Updated

Flood threat spreads to Louisiana

The threat of floods is spreading east to Louisiana, according to the latest warning form the US National Weather Service. It said up to 25 inches (63.5cm) of rain is expected in southwestern parts of the state.

Summary

  • Record flooding has hit Houston and south-east Texas as Tropical Storm Harvey causes mounting havoc with yet more rain forecast. It has dumped as much as 30 inches (76cm) of rain in some counties in the past 72 hours including record amounts in the last 24 hours.
  • At least two people have been killed in the floods and tens of thousands have been forced from their homes. The authorities have ordered more than 50,000 people to leave parts of Fort Bend County, about 35 miles (55 km) southwest of Houston as the Brazos River is set to to peak at a record high of 59 feet (18 m) this week, 14 feet above its flood stage.
  • Thousands of people have fled to their rooftops or higher ground as warnings of flash flooding continue through the night. Rescuers struggled to keep up with calls for help. Houston emergency services have received nearly 6,000 appeals for rescues. The Coast Guard said it had rescued 1,200 people, of which 200 were from the air.
  • Donald Trump will visit Texas on Tuesday as part of his response to the first natural disaster to test his presidency. He spent Sunday morning tweeting his thoughts from Camp David, from where he took part in a cabinet meeting. “Wow,” he wrote. “Now experts are calling #Harvey a once in 500 year flood! We have an all out effort going, and going well!” He would visit Texas, he added, “as soon as that trip can be made without causing disruption. The focus must be life and safety.”
  • Federal Emergency Management Agency has predicted that the aftermath of the storm would require the agency’s involvement for years. Director Brock Long said: “This disaster’s going to be a landmark event.”
  • The US military has released water from two major reservoirs earlier than planned to protect central Houston, a move that could itself flood several thousands homes. Water is being released from the Addicks and Barker reservoirs in western Houston. Residents nearby have been told to monitor water levels and evacuate if they are in danger, but to wait until daylight before they do so.
  • The cost of the flood damage is drawing comparisons to Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which caused $108bn of losses (including $80bn of insured losses). About 3,000 national and state guard member have been activated in Texas, and disaster relief crews have arrived from as far away as New York and South Colorado. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) has deployed more than 1,800 staff.
  • Houston’s mayor, Sylvester Turner, has defended his decision not to evacuate the flood-prone city, saying he had “no regrets”. No one knew where the hurricane would go, so it was impossible to send people away from danger, Turner said.
  • A Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund has been set up to take donations from the public. It will be administered by the Greater Houston Community Foundation. Donations can be made via its site.
  • People have been urged not to return to Aransas County – where Harvey hit – as emergency services continue the search for any missing people. The area has no water, power or communications.

Updated

Dogs, horses and even bats are among some of the animals hit by the storm.

Some areas have been deluged with more than 30 inches (76cm) of rainfall in the last 72 hours, according to the latest figures from the National Weather Service.

The worst hit area was Berry B Forest Oaks, in Harris County, where 30.56 inches have fallen since Friday.

Record levels of rain have fallen in the last 24 hours alone.

The Guardian’s Rory Carroll is in Conroe, just north of Houston, where he says the road is too dodgy to
continue any further.

The only vehicles travelling towards Houston are towing boats, he says.

The area is filled with families who have fled their homes.

CNN has aired live footage of a elderly man being rescued from his home in Dickinson, south-east of Houston.

The broadcast stopped as the man’s wife, who is reportedly suffering with dementia, was also due to be rescued.

At least 18 people, including 15 residents, were rescued from a nursing home in Dickinson, after a photograph of the residents sitting in flooded lounge went viral, the Galveston County Daily News, reports.

“We were air-lifting grandmothers and grandfathers,” Dickinson emergency management coordinator David Popoff told the paper.

In terms of basic infrastructure, more than 220,000 customers in the Houston area are without power, the city’s George Bush intercontinental airport (one of the nation’s busiest) and William P Hobby airport are closed to all commercial flights and all the schools in the area have been closed for the week.

The Federal Emergency Management Authority has deployed 1,800 staff and 3,000 national and state guard member have been activated in Texas.

More than 50,000 people have been ordered to leave parts of Fort Bend County, about 35 miles (55km) south-west of Houston, as the Brazos River was set to peak at a record high of 59ft (18 metres) this week, or 14ft (4.3 metres) above its flood stage.

Brazos County Judge Robert Hebert told reporters the forecast crest represented a high not seen in at least 800 years.

Steve Bowen, chief meteorologist at reinsurance firm Aon Benfield, said: “What we’re seeing is the most devastating flood event in Houston’s recorded history. We’re seeing levels of rainfall that are unprecedented.”

You can see a map of the areas affected by evacuation orders here.

A man takes his dog to safety in Houston.
A man takes his dog to safety in Houston. Photograph: Xinhua / Barcroft Images

A man helps children across a flooded street as they evacuate their home.
A man helps children across a flooded street as they evacuate their home. Photograph: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

A man floats on the freeway flooded by Tropical Storm Harvey on Sunday near downtown Houston after helping the driver of the submerged truck get to safety.
A man floats on the freeway flooded by Tropical Storm Harvey on Sunday near downtown Houston after helping the driver of the submerged truck get to safety. Photograph: Charlie Riedel/AP

Summary

  • Catastrophic flooding is hitting Houston as ex-hurricane Harvey continues to stall onland. It has dumped as much as 26 inches (66cm) of rain in some counties in the past 72 hours and much more is expected through til Friday.
  • Thousands of people have fled to their rooftops or higher ground as warnings of flash flooding continue through the night. Rescuers struggled to keep up with calls for help. Houston emergency services have received nearly 6,000 appeals for rescues. The Coast Guard said it had rescued 1,200 people, of which 200 were from the air.
  • The director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Brock Long, has predicted that the aftermath of the storm would require the agency’s involvement for years. “This disaster’s going to be a landmark event,” Long said.
  • The US military has released water from two major reservoirs earlier than planned to protect central Houston, a move that could itself flood several thousands homes. Water is being released from the Addicks and Barker reservoirs in western Houston. Residents nearby have been told to monitor water levels and evacuate if they are in danger, but to wait until daylight before they do so.
  • The release is expected push up the Buffalo Bayou – one of Houston’s major waterways – by up to 6 inches (15 cm) an hour. The bayou is already suffering catastrophic flooding in the west of the city, at more than 7ft above flooding point.
  • The tropical storm has strengthened slightly and there are fears it could return to the coast, where it would gather more power, before coming back to land.
  • The damage bill is already drawing comparisons to Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which caused $108bn of losses (including $80bn of insured losses).
  • About 3,000 national and state guard member have been activated in Texas, and disaster relief crews have arrived from as far away as New York and South Colorado. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) has deployed more than 1,800 staff.
  • Houston’s mayor, Sylvester Turner, has defended his decision not to evacuate the flood-prone city, saying he had “no regrets”. No one knew where the hurricane would go, so it was impossible to send people away from danger, Turner said.
  • As of Sunday night, 54 counties in Texas have been declared state disaster areas by the governor, Greg Abbott.
  • A Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund has been set up to take donations from the public. It will be administered by the Greater Houston Community Foundation. Donations can be made via its site.
  • People have been urged not to return to Aransas County – where the hurricane hit – as emergency services continue the search for any missing people. The area has no water, power or communications.

Here is video from earlier of Houston mayor Sylvester Turner defending his decision not to evacuate the city before the floods hit. He says the decision was a smart one and cites the chaos of previous evacuations. He makes the point that the path of Hurricane Harvey was unpredictable. “It’s kind of difficult to send people away from danger when you don’t know where the danger is.”

‘Absolutely no regrets’: Houston mayor defiant over not calling evacuation

Flash flood warnings (covering a frankly vast area) are in place for the next three hours.

An update from 30 minutes ago on the opening of those reservoirs. Flood control authorities are urging residents in the west Harris and Fort Bend counties to closely monitor water levels and evacuate if they wish to – but to wait until daylight before they do. It is just after 1am there.

It expects reservoir levels to continue to rise throughout the week, despite the controlled releases, something that could affect surrounding areas for several weeks to months.

Updated

The area affected by the Barker reservoir release is marked in blue on this map, west of central Houston. The other coloured areas show mandatory and voluntary evacuation areas. The interactive map can be accessed here.

Map showing the flood-risk areas in and around Houston on Monday 28 August 2017, three days after the arrival of Hurricane Harvey.

Military begins water release earlier than planned

The Army Corps of Engineers has just begun releasing water from two major reservoirs around Houston much earlier than planned. Just before 12.30am, it opened the Addicks and Barker reservoirs as part of a plan to protect central Houston. Earlier, it said it would open Addicks at 2am and Barker 24 hours later.

The move could flood several thousand homes and temporarily raise water levels in both directions along the Buffalo Bayou, a major waterway flowing through central Houston.

See this interactive flood map for the latest evacuation orders.

Impressive herding skills from the police.

Houston’s George R Brown convention center has opened as a shelter. It was also used as a shelter for 7,000 Hurricane Katrina refugees in 2005.

Gillis Leho arrived there soaking wet. She said she awoke on Sunday to find her downstairs flooded. She tried to move some belongings upstairs, then grabbed her grandchildren. “When they told us the current was getting high, we had to bust a window to get out,” Leho said.

William Cain sought shelter after water started coming inside his family’s apartment and they lost power. “I live in a lake where there was once dry land,” he said.

Some people used inflatable beach toys, rubber rafts and even air mattresses to get through the water to safety. Others waded while carrying bin bags stuffed with their belongings, and small animals in cool boxes.

The Associated Press has spoken to an 88-year-old woman who was rescued by her son and a friend after they pulled a boat through chest-deep water for a mile to reach her.

“When I was younger, I used to wish I had a daughter, but I have the best son in the world,” said Marie Bartlett, the mother of Tom Bartlett. “In my 40 years here, I’ve never seen the water this high.” The water was halfway up the walls in her west Houston home when she was rescued.

One indication of just how long-lived an event this is expected to be is that Houston’s school district has cancelled school all week. With the Labor Day holiday on 4 September, that means school will not resume until Tuesday 5 September.

People view the flooded highways in Houston on Sunday.
People view the flooded highways in Houston on Sunday. Photograph: Thomas B. Shea/AFP/Getty Images

Summary

  • Catastrophic flooding is hitting Houston as ex-hurricane Harvey continues to stall onland. It has dumped as much as 26 inches (66cm) of rain in some counties in the past 72 hours and much more is expected through til Friday.
  • Thousands of people have fled to their rooftops or higher ground as rescuers struggled to keep up with calls for help. Houston emergency services have received nearly 6,000 appeals for rescues. The Coast Guard said it had rescued 1,200 people, of which 200 were from the air.
  • The director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Brock Long, has predicted that the aftermath of the storm would require the agency’s involvement for years. “This disaster’s going to be a landmark event,” Long said.
  • The US military plans to release water from two major reservoirs to protect central Houston, a move that could itself flood several thousands homes. Water is to be released from the Addicks reservoir from 2am on Monday and from the Barker Reservoir about 24 hours later, the Army Corps of Engineers said.
  • The release will push up the Buffalo Bayou – one of Houston’s major waterways – by up to 6 inches (15 cm) per hour. The bayou is already suffering catastrophic flooding in the west of the city, at more than 7ft above flooding point.
  • The tropical storm has strengthened slightly and there are fears it could return to the coast, where it would gather more power, before coming back to land.
  • The damage bill is already drawing comparisons to Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which caused $108bn of losses (including $80bn of insured losses).
  • About 3,000 national and state guard member have been activated in Texas, and disaster relief crews have arrived from as far away as New York and South Colorado. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) has deployed more than 1,800 staff.
  • Houston’s mayor, Sylvester Turner, has defended his decision not to evacuate the flood-prone city, saying he had “no regrets”. No one knew where the hurricane would go, so it was impossible to send people away from danger, Turner said.
  • As of Sunday night, 54 counties in Texas have been declared state disaster areas by the governor, Greg Abbott.
  • A Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund has been set up to take donations from the public. It will be administered by the Greater Houston Community Foundation. Donations can be made via its site.
  • People have been urged not to return to Aransas County – where the hurricane hit – as emergency services continue the search for any missing people. The area has no water, power or communications.

ABC Houston has frightening footage showing the rescue of two people from the Katy Freeway, one of the major thoroughfares feeding Houston from the west.

The Coast Guard said it had performed 200 aerial rescues so far.
The Coast Guard said it had performed 200 aerial rescues so far. Photograph: PETTY OFFICER 3RD CLASS JOHANNA STRICKLAND / HANDOUT/EPA

US Coast Guard crew responds to a search and rescue request in Houston.
US Coast Guard crew responds to a search and rescue request in Houston. Photograph: PETTY OFFICER 3RD CLASS JOHANNA STRICKLAND / HANDOUT/EPA

Texas National Guard soldiers arriving to help stranded people.
Texas National Guard soldiers arriving to help stranded people. Photograph: LT. ZACHARY WEST, 100TH MPAD / HANDOUT/EPA

Here’s what the Federal Emergency Management Agency says it has done so far. It has also issued safety tips and contact numbers here.

As of Sunday night, 54 counties in Texas have been declared state disaster areas by the governor, Greg Abbott. Texas has 254 counties.

Houston’s George Bush intercontinental airport and William P Hobby airport halted all commercial flights on Sunday. Nearly 1,500 flights in and out of Houston have been cancelled, according to FlightAware.com.

'Catastrophic' flooding along Buffalo Bayou

Buffalo Bayou has reached 69ft at a spot in western Houston called West Belt Drive. That is about 7ft over the stage at which it floods. It is predicted to rise at least another 4ft.

See here for more details on the status of Buffalo Bayou.

A Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund has been set up by Houston mayor Sylvester Turner to take donations from the public. It will be administered by the Greater Houston Community Foundation. Donations can be made via its site.

Turner said he was taking phone calls from across the country and “the generosity of people who understand this disaster is truly amazing”.

A picture of Houston right now:

Below are two images of North Post Oak Lane in Houston. One is a historical Google Streetview image, the other is how it looked on Sunday.

An image of North Post Oak Lane in Houston. The street has been inundated as a result of Hurricane Harvey.
Rescue crews search for people in distress after Hurricane Harvey caused heavy flooding in Houston

A voluntary evacuation order has been issued by Harris County flood control for the Inverness Forest area. It fears Cypress Creek will spill over the levee by Monday morning. See here for more details on which precise areas could be affected.

Tom Dart wrote this piece about Houston’s flooding problem a little more than two months ago. Some snippets:

The Texas metropolis has more casualties and property loss from floods than any other locality in the US, according to data stretching back to 1960 that [flood expert Sam] Brody researched with colleagues. And, he said: ‘Where the built environment is a main force exacerbating the impacts of urban flooding, Houston is number one and it’s not even close.’

Near the Gulf coast, Houston is also at annual risk from hurricanes: it is now into the start of the 2017 season, which runs from June to November. Ike, the last hurricane to hit the Houston region, caused $34bn in damage and killed 112 people across several states in September 2008.

The damage from Hurricane Harvey might equal that from Hurricane Katrina, the costliest natural disaster in US history, an insurance research group has said.

The Insurance Information Institute said it was still too soon to make precise estimates but it based its prediction on the sheer amount of water still coming in, rather than the earlier damage from hurricane winds.

Andrew Siffert at at insurance broker BMS Group said it was easy to understand that Harvey would cause well over $10bn in economic loss.

Hurricane Katrina resulted in more than $15bn in flood insurance losses in Louisiana and Mississippi that were paid by the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), a federal program that is the only source of flood insurance for most Americans.

Many residents in Texas rely on the NFIP, which is about $25bn in debt and has been a target for congressional reform. It will expire at the end of September unless it is renewed.

It worth mentioning that Donald Trump’s proposed budget calls for a $667m cut to state and local Federal Emergency Management Agency programmes that focus on disaster preparation.

The Houston Chronicle has extraordinary drone footage showing some of Houston’s flooded bayous. It says the footage was taken by Ahmed Gul from the University of Houston.

The National Weather Service has released some extraordinary rainfall totals from the past 72 hours. Parts of Harris County (eastern Houston) and Galveston County, further south-east on the coast, have been hit by 26 inches (66cm) of rain.

More from our correspondent on those water releases that will affect Buffalo Bayou, a vital waterway through Houston.

Tom Dart writes:

Houston is dubbed the Bayou City for good reason, and Buffalo extends all the way through the city and suburbs for dozens of miles, right through downtown, through some of the richest areas – and the poorest. It feeds from the west into the Ship Channel in the east, leading to Galveston Bay. Anyone living near a bayou is especially vulnerable right now, and notorious, regular flood hotspot Meyerland, just south-west of downtown, has again been one of the worst-hit areas because of its proximity to Brays Bayou.

This map from storm chaser Josh Morgerman gives a good picture of the path that Harvey has taken since its category 4 hurricane days. The concern – which was widely predicted – is that it will return to the coast, gather strength and create more problems. The National Hurricane Center has recently said that Harvey has increased slightly in power.

Dallas – which is 240 miles (390km) north of Houston – has so far opened up three shelters to take in the displaced. It plans to open the city’s main convention center, the Kay Bailey Hutchison convention center, to offer another 5,000 beds by Tuesday morning.

A rescue helicopter hovers in the background as an elderly woman and her poodle use an air mattress to float above flood waters in Houston.
A rescue helicopter hovers in the background as an elderly woman and her poodle use an air mattress to float above flood waters in Houston. Photograph: Adrees Latif/Reuters

Rain in far west Houston is now the strongest it has been all weekend and radar images suggest no let-up for several hours, bringing added anxiety to residents close to the Barker and Addicks reservoirs, which collect water and protect central Houston by reducing the impact of flooding along the Buffalo Bayou.

The Army Corps of Engineers is set to release water from the reservoirs in the coming hours, in effect allowing some neighborhoods to flood in order to keep a bigger disaster from unspooling downriver. Some are already under a voluntary evacuation order. Population growth in this part of Houston has been explosive over the past decade, fueled by the oil boom. It’s close to a quarter known as the Energy Corridor, where many oil companies big and small are headquartered. That means more houses and apartments built close to the bayou and the reservoirs. And where once were fields helping to absorb rainwater are now large areas of non-porous concrete.

In this press briefing, the US Coast Guard says it has conducted more than 1,000 rescues, of which 200 were from the air.

People who fled Aransas County – where Hurricane Harvey made landfall – have been urged not to return yet by Sheriff Bill Mills as the search for any missing people continues. There is no running water, power or phone service in the area yet.

Mills said search and rescue teams – some of which have arrived from as far away as New York and North Carolina – had covered 85% of the county and so far encountered one death. That was a person whose body was so badly burned in a mobile home fire in Rockport that medical examiners have been unable to determine the sex.

Major water releases planned to protect Houston

The US military has said it plans to release water from two reservoirs south-west of Houston in a bid to protect the city and surrounds. Water is to be released from the Addicks reservoir from 2am on Monday and from the Barker Reservoir about 24 hours later, the Army Corps of Engineers said.

The release will cause a rise of up to 6 inches (15 cm) per hour in the Buffalo Bayou – which runs through Houston – and will cause water levels to rise both upstream and downstream for a time. “This flood event will exceed the 2016 tax day flood elevations,” said Colonel Lars Zetterstrom at a press briefing. “Structures will be impacted upstream from both locations; the number of structures affected will depend on weather conditions.”

The corps said the flooding around the Barker reservoir might affect several thousand homes.

It will take up to three months to empty the reservoirs, according to Zetterstrom.

More details (in Spanish and English) can be found here.

Tornadoes are still a major risk. This alert applies for the next 30 mins, east of Houston.

A Jetski is used to help people evacuate homes.
A Jetski is used to help people evacuate homes. Photograph: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

People use a truck to evacuate their homes after the area was inundated with flooding from Hurricane Harvey on August 27

Submerged cars on a freeway flooded by Tropical Storm Harvey on Sunday.
Submerged cars on a freeway flooded by tropical storm Harvey on Sunday. Photograph: Charlie Riedel/AP

Here is an interactive map showing mandatory and voluntary evacuation areas. It has a feature to type in an address and see if it is affected. It is updated in real time. It currently shows a mandatory evacuation area along the San Bernand river, south-west of Houston, a voluntary evacuation area along the Brazos river. It also shows the area likely to be affected by the planned release of the Barker reservoir.

This National Weather Service map from about 20 minutes ago gives an idea of the areas most at risk from the downpours. The orange and red areas of highest rainfall are focused south-west of central Houston, where authorities are planning to release dams. Victoria can be seen in the lower left corner and Beaumont and Lake Charles on the right hand side.

We are expecting a briefing soon on the planned releases of the Addicks and Barker reservoirs. This is part of central Houston’s flood control system.

Kevin Simmons, an economist specialising in natural hazards at Austin College in Texas, points out there is $325bn of residential property at risk in the Houston metropolitan area. If only a tiny percentage of that is damaged, we are still talking about a clean-up bill that goes into billions, on top of which comes the commercial, infrastructure and transport costs.

This is one of the many, many stories of rescues emerging across Houston.

This map gives a clearer idea of the areas at greatest risk of flash flooding through until 10.45am on Monday.

Reservoir to be released to protect Houston

Fort Bend County, south-west of Houston, has issued a voluntary emergency evacuation order for a neighborhood next to a reservoir that is set to see water released to protect much of central Houston.

A statement said: “Imminent flooding is expected in the area. Residents are advised to make preparations now to remove all persons, pets, and livestock out of the flood-prone area.”

The topography of the disaster-hit area is crucial to understanding how this torrential rainfall could bring disaster. As Tom Dart explains, more than 6.5 million people live in the region, which is one of the country’s most flood-prone.

As Houston’s population has expanded, thousands of homes have been built near the reservoirs, which are under repair because the Corps classified them as “extremely high risk” several years ago, though the federal agency has in the past denied they are under imminent danger of failing.

Here is the latest overview of events from our correspondent, Tom Dart, in Houston. It paints a picture of a city under huge strain. The bayous are being breached, there are more than 200 road closures as the main routes turn into rivers, thousands of people are calling to be rescued, and emergency services are answering only those emergencies that are life-threatening.

Steve Bowen, meteorologist at reinsurance firm Aon Benfield, said: “What we’re seeing is the most devastating flood event in Houston’s recorded history. We’re seeing levels of rainfall that are unprecedented.”

It remains to be seen whether the state governor’s praise of the federal response as “A+” is justified. President Trump is due to visit the area tomorrow.

The mayor also defended his decision not to order the city to evacuate. “The decision that we made was a smart one. It was in the best interest of Houstonians. It was the right decision in terms of their safety ... absolutely no regrets. We did what was the right thing to do,” he said.

This is an issue that will no doubt be much-discussed at a later date.

The mayor of Houston, Sylvester Turner, has said that as of 5pm on Sunday – or about three hours ago – Houston emergency services had received nearly 6,000 calls for rescues and had rescued more than 1,000 people. Many of them had been trapped on their roofs or in their attics.

He said 22 aircraft were scouring the area to identify people stranded on roofs. Thirty-five boats and 93 trucks were being used by the city for high-water rescues.

He confirmed one fatality from Saturday evening, when a woman was found dead after getting out of her car in a flooded street.

The director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Brock Long, has predicted that the aftermath of the storm would require the agency’s involvement for years.
“This disaster’s going to be a landmark event,” Long said.

Meanwhile, the Republican governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, heaped praise on the agency and Donald Trump. “I’ve got to tell you, I give Fema a grade of A+, all the way from the president down,” he said. “I’ve spoken to the president several times, to his cabinet members, such as secretary of homeland security, such as the administrator of Fema, such as Tom Price, the secretary of health and human services.”

“All across the board, from the White House to the federal administration to Fema, they’ve been very helpful,” Abbott said.

Storm forecast to strengthen

Harvey, which made landfall as a category 4 hurricane before quickly losing its power, could strengthen again as it moves slowly south-east, back towards the coast, according to the National Hurricane Center.

It said it would maintain its strength over the next 24 hours but then “some slight re-strengthening is possible after the center moves off the coast on Monday night and Tuesday”.

It is now just before 8pm in Houston and the risk of flash flooding will continue throughout the night.

In an advisory issued by the center less than an hour ago, the centre of the storm is sitting about 120 miles (193km) south-west of Houston and inching south-east at 3mph (6km/h).

The storm is expected to rain an additional 15 to 25 inches (up to 63cm) through to Friday over the upper Texas Gulf coast and into south-western Louisiana. Isolated storm totals may reach 50 inches over that area, including the Houston-Galveston area.

See the centre’s rundown in the tweet below for details on specific areas.

The US Coast Guard says it has received more than 300 search and rescue requests in the Houston area. At the moment it has has five helicopters in the area and is asking for additional helicopters from New Orleans.

Officials are advising people in dire straits to get to the roofs of their homes and mark them somehow to be seen from the air. One suggestion is for people to wave sheets or towels.

People walk through the floodwaters on Telephone Road in Houston on Sunday.

People walk through the flooded waters of Telephone Rd. in Houston on August 27

The rains have created a sinkhole in Rosenberg, just south-west of central Houston, washing away part of the Texas highway.

In this photo provided by the Rosenberg Police Department water rushes from a large sinkhole on Highway FM 762 in Rosenberg, Texas, near Houston, Sunday, Aug. 27, 2017. Police say the sinkhole has opened on the Texas highway as Tropical Storm Harvey dumps more rain on the region. (Rosenberg Police Department via AP)

Downtown Houston, giving a view of Buffalo Bayou.

Flooded downtown is seen from a high rise along Buffalo Bayou

A dealership in Dickinson off Interstate 45, just south-east of Houston’s centre.

Vehicles are seen submerged at a dealership off Interstate 45 in Dickinson, Texas, Sunday, Aug. 27, 2017. (Kelsey Walling/The Galveston County Daily News via AP)

The scale of the rescue challenge that authorities are facing is beginning to emerge. I will post some images next showing street scenes in and around Houston.

On Sunday, parts of Houston were inundated with more than 22 inches (55cm) of rain. That is too much for the bayous to handle, too much for roads to remain passable and threatening to overwhelm emergency teams.

Across Houston, thousands of people have been forced to take refuge on rooftops, and rescues are being carried out across America’s fourth-largest city as its flood control systems are tested to their limits by ex-hurricane Harvey.

Several deaths have been reported, including that of a woman and child in a submerged vehicle on Interstate 10. The deaths cannot confirmed by authorities because they cannot reach them.

We will bring you the latest updates here. If there is anything you would like to share, you can reach me on graham.russell@theguardian.com or on Twitter at @G_J_Russell

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