{"id":323493,"date":"2017-08-27T21:22:35","date_gmt":"2017-08-27T20:22:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/newswire\/unprecedented-rainfall-and-catastrophic-flooding-devastate-the-gulf-coast\/"},"modified":"2017-08-27T21:22:35","modified_gmt":"2017-08-27T20:22:35","slug":"unprecedented-rainfall-and-catastrophic-flooding-devastate-the-gulf-coast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/newswire\/unprecedented-rainfall-and-catastrophic-flooding-devastate-the-gulf-coast\/","title":{"rendered":"'Unprecedented' Rainfall and 'Catastrophic' Flooding Devastate the Gulf Coast"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

With at least five reported<\/a> dead after Hurricane Harvey slammed into the Gulf Coast earlier this weekend, Texas residents are expected to continue battling “unprecedented” rainfall and life-threatening, “catastrophic” flooding for several days.<\/p>\n

“An extremely serious situation with few if any close parallels in modern U.S. hurricane history is taking shape over the southeast third of Texas.”
\u2014Jeff Masters, Weather Underground<\/p>\n

Although what was a category 4 hurricane on Friday is now considered a tropical storm, the forecast has alarmed weather experts, who are warning residents of Louisiana and Texas\u2014particularly those in the Houston metro area\u2014to prepare<\/a> for more intense floods and, if possible, avoid<\/a> traveling in affected areas.<\/p>\n

“An extremely serious situation with few if any close parallels in modern U.S. hurricane history is taking shape over the southeast third of Texas,” writes<\/a>\u00a0meteorologist Jeff Masters for Weather Underground<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“There is very little doubt that Texas is in for one of the worst rainfall and flood events in its history,” Masters writes. “The resulting rainfall is very likely to produce widespread, devastating, and potentially catastrophic flooding. The situation in Houston is particularly concerning, given that city’s vast size and population and its well-known vulnerability to flooding.”<\/p>\n

William “Brock” Long, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) echoed Masters’ concerns on Sunday, when he\u00a0told<\/a> the Washington Post<\/em>: “This will be a devastating disaster, probably the worst disaster the state’s seen.”<\/p>\n

The National Weather Service predicts<\/a>\u00a0that in the next 24 hours alone, at least five Texas counties will experience more than 20 inches of rainfall.<\/p>\n

\n

This event is unprecedented & all impacts are unknown & beyond anything experienced. Follow orders from officials to ensure safety. #Harvey<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/IjpWLey1h8<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 NWS (@NWS) August 27, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n

Quite honestly, I’ve never seen the NWS say something like this before.https:\/\/t.co\/nVgiEPpRnE<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Eric Holthaus (@EricHolthaus) August 27, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Rising floodwaters in and around Houston on Saturday forced many residents who had not already fled the storm to climb to their attics and rooftops, and anxiously await the overwhelmed emergency response crews.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“A fleet of helicopters, airboats, and high-water vehicles confronted flooding so widespread that authorities had trouble pinpointing the worst areas,” the\u00a0AP<\/em>\u00a0reports<\/a>.” Rescuers got too many calls to respond to each one and had to prioritize life-and-death situations.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

In Harris County\u2014which includes Houston and is the nation’s fourth most-populous county\u2014emergency crews have performed 1,500 to 2,000 high-water rescues since Saturday night, the Houston Chronicle<\/em> reports<\/a>, but\u00a0“the county is operating at full capacity and doesn’t have enough boats and high-water vehicles to meet the region’s needs.”<\/p>\n

“We asked the state for additional resources, but they can’t get here,”\u00a0Harris County Judge Ed\u00a0Emmett told the Chronicle<\/em>. “We had everyone in place,” he said, but “this is unprecedented.” Emmett has asked\u00a0residents with high-water vehicles and boats to assist with rescue efforts, which continued across the region on Sunday, despite road closures and other obstacles.<\/p>\n

I-45, “the major interstate from Galveston through Houston, is shut down in places because of high water,”\u00a0CNN<\/em>\u00a0reports<\/a>, and one of Houston’s largest public hospitals was forced to evacuate on Sunday because rising water endangered its electrical system.<\/p>\n

In additional to local and state emergency responders, FEMA’s director, Long, said\u00a0<\/em>there are already 5,000 federal employees in Texas to respond to the crisis. Along with his controversial Friday night news dump<\/a> as the hurricane barreled toward Texas, President Donald Trump approved<\/a> a disaster declaration for the state, enabling FEMA to provide assistance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“The recovery to this event is going to last many years, to be able to help Texas and the people impacted by this event achieve a new normal,” Long told the Post<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Journalists and residents who remained in the flooded regions this weekend shared startling images of the rising waters and rescue efforts:<\/p>\n

\n

Rescue crews working nonstop as #Harvey<\/a>‘s floodwaters imperil thousands in Houston https:\/\/t.co\/5r1ScsqriF<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/PUnKLBTuk7<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Houston Chronicle (@HoustonChron) August 27, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n

Daybreak in Houston…. so many water rescues that the US Coast Guard & Texas National Guard assisting. pic.twitter.com\/htn9pCMHLn<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Dax Clark (@TheDopplerDax) August 27, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n

This man is a preacher checking for people inside cars at 610 & 288 PC Brian Roberson Jr @KPRC2<\/a> #Harvey<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/NJx58ZN8N8<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Sara Donchey (@KPRC2Sara) August 27, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n

Devastating images from #Houston<\/a> today – the fourth most populated city in the U.S. And still the rain continues… #Harvey<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/SqF7p18wBx<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Dan Holley (@danholley_) August 27, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

Via Common Dreams<\/a>. This piece was reprinted by RINF Alternative News<\/a> with permission or license.<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With at least five reported dead after Hurricane Harvey slammed into the Gulf Coast earlier this weekend, Texas residents are expected to continue battling “unprecedented” rainfall and life-threatening, “catastrophic” flooding for several days. “An extremely serious situation with few if any close parallels in modern U.S. hurricane history is taking shape over the southeast third […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":323221,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[519],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-323493","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-newswire"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=323493"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323493\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/323221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=323493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=323493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=323493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}