Update: Houston Office of Emergency Management is asking for anyone in region with a shallow draft fishing style boat or high water vehicle to head for nearest firehouse, HPD, or call 713-881-3100 — DS
Even those of us who saw and understood the rainfall projections are stunned by what is happening in and around Houston today. The fourth largest city in the US, with almost seven million people in the greater area, is being rapidly turned into a series of islands as though it were an urban archipelago by the torrential aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, now downgraded to a tropical storm:
The worst fears of flooding are starting to be realized with Harvey as it unloads some of the most extreme rainfall Houston and other parts of Southeast Texas has ever witnessed. And much more rain is still to come. “Catastrophic flooding in the Houston metropolitan area is expected to worsen,” the National Weather Service said Sunday morning.
The National Weather Service Weather Prediction Center is calling for an additional 15-25 inches of rain over the middle and upper Texas coast, including the Houston area, during the next several days. The National Hurricane Center said isolated storm rainfall totals could reach 50 inches.
Outlaying towns like Austin are bracing for storm refugees; local Houston weather stations are barely staying on air; Brazoria County twitter feed; Houston Office of Emergency Management; Daily Kos community member check in post here.
There is worry this event could eventually rival Hurricane Katrina in terms of total dollar damage ( Warning: some images below the fold are disturbing).
There are many more heartbreaking, shocking images and firsthand accounts on Twitter.