At least five people were killed after historic rainfall and floods hit Houston, Texas.
More than 100,000 customers lost power and Houston’s airports canceled hundreds of flights as a line of thunderstorms dropped more than 15 inches rain across parts of southeastern Texas. Houston and Harris County officials encouraged residents to stay in their homes.
“For northwest Harris County, this is going to be a historic event,” Francisco Sanchez, the county’s homeland security and emergency management liaison, said by phone Monday. “For some of those neighborhoods, it will be a couple of days before they can get that water out of the way.”
Houston’s buses and light-rail service were suspended, and most area school districts closed their doors. More than half of Harris County’s 22 bayous and creeks, which help with flood control, were out of their banks, County Judge Ed Emmett said on Twitter. Emmett sent a disaster declaration request to the state, which is expected to send it on to the federal government, Sanchez said.
The National Weather Service declared a flash-flood emergency until 1 p.m. local time. George Bush Intercontinental Airport lifted a full ground stop shortly after noon. The airport reported 537 cancellations and 145 delays. CenterPoint Energy Inc., the region’s electric transmission and distribution company, reported 60,168 customers without power at 12:55 a.m., down from more than 100,000. High water was reported on all major roadways.
“This is a life-threatening emergency,” the city said on an emergency website.
“Houston residents should avoid travel at all costs today.”
Two men were found dead in submerged vehicles in Harris and Waller Counties.
A driver of an lorry truck was found dead inside in his cab and two others died after driving around barricades on Houston’s west side.
1,200 high-water rescues were carried out. Residents were forced to seek refuge on roofs and in attics.
An estimated 240 billion gallons of water had fallen in the area on Monday.