Hurricane Harvey continues to wreak havoc in the state of Texas as Houston is waking up to 30 inches of rainfall, the normal amount they receive in a year.
Houston, the fourth-largest city in the US, has reported that 5 people have died so far. Harvey is being labelled as the biggest storm in the history of the state of Texas
The hurricane, who made landfall as a category-four late last Friday has now been downgraded to a tropical storm.
When it did, areas as far as 150 miles away were hit with torrential rain which swelled rivers upstream and caused a massive surge which headed towards the Houston area.
To deal with the surge, Colonel Lars Zetterstrom of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers stated that his people would be releasing water from two nearby reservoirs into Buffalo Bayou, the primary body of water running through the city of 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,” Colonel Lars said.
Furthermore, Federal agencies are now confirming that the area’s vital petrochemical industry will also be crippled for days to come, just as The Goldwater had reported earlier today: http://thegoldwater.com/news/7231-Hurricane-Harvey-will-Take-Toll-on-Texas-Oil-and-US-Economy
The eyes of the world are on Texas today, and President Trump is faced with his fist natural catastrophe since taking office. It is expected he will visit the area later this week and is coordinating rescue efforts.
Twitter saw support for the inhabitants of Houston trending with the #Houston strong hashtag.
Our colleagues over at USA today has Heartbreak in Texas as its main title. We can only agree.
Harvey is causing much personal pain for the people of Texas, as my colleague Kyle James already reported in this gripping story: http://thegoldwater.com/news/7232-The-Story-Of-Sam-Speights-Desparate-Bid-To-Survive-Hurricane-Harvey
Finally, we here at the Goldwater wish everybody in Texas affected by the storm well during this dreadful period. Stay strong.
Source:
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-storm-harvey-idUSKCN1B7083
