Thousands rescued as Harvey's waters rise
(CNN)As night fell Monday, emergency officials in Texas continued fielding calls from stranded residents, rescuing thousands from Harvey's floodwaters.
"The Coast Guard is continuing to receive upwards of 1,000 calls per hour," US Coast Guard Lt. Mike Hart said Monday. "Today alone, the Coast Guard has rescued over 3,000 people. That includes both air rescues and rescues using boats."
Since midnight Sunday, more than 2,300 calls have poured in to the Houston Fire Department, including 400 calls for rescue Monday afternoon, Houston officials said. Four people have died as a result of the catastrophic storm.
Houston police had rescued 1,000 people since Monday morning, bringing the total number rescued to more than 3,000 since the storm flooded the city, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner told reporters Monday night.
Live video from Houston showed rescuers in small boats on one flooded street carrying people to higher ground.
'They're panicking'
As Harvey dumped rain on East Texas and the waters rose, people started to panic, rushing rescue boats and even shooting at them if they didn't stop, said one volunteer rescuer.
Clyde Cain, of the Cajun Navy, a Louisiana-based rescue force that gained fame during Hurricane Katrina, said in one instance, a boat broke down, and while the crew sought shelter in a delivery truck, people tried to steal the inoperable boat.
"They're making it difficult for us to rescue them," he said. "You have people rushing the boat. Everyone wants to get in at the same time. They're panicking. Water is rising."
Because of the hostile responses, the Cajun Navy has been forced to halt some rescue attempts, Cain said.
"We have boats being shot at if we're not picking everybody up. We're having to pull out for a minute. We're dropping an airboat right now to go rescue a couple of our boats that broke, and they're kind of under attack," he said.
There is no indication the water will stop rising anytime soon. Swollen rivers in east Texas aren't expected to crest until later this week, and federal officials are already predicting the deadly Tropical Storm Harvey will drive 30,000 people into shelters and spur 450,000 victims to seek some sort of disaster assistance.
And yet, forecasters say, more rain is coming. Lots more.
President pledges 'rapid action from Congress'
President Trump said Monday the recovery from Hurricane Harvey will be "a long and difficult road," but predicted the country would emerge "bigger, better, stronger than ever before." Trump is scheduled to visit Texas on Tuesday.
Calling the storm a catastrophe in Southeast Texas, the President said, "We see neighbor helping neighbor, friend helping friend and stranger helping stranger. We are one American family. We hurt together, we struggle together and believe me, we endure together."
The President also said he believes Congress will act fast to provide disaster relief funding to the areas affected by Harvey.
"You're going to see very rapid action from Congress -- certainly from the President," Trump said.
Addressing Texans, he added: "We're going to get your funding."
Trump on Harvey funding: 'You're going to see very rapid action'
Latest developments
-- About 8,000 people were estimated to be in Houston shelters Monday night, said Houston's mayor. About 5,000 were expected to be in the Houston Convention Center, he said.
-- The Galveston County Office of Emergency Management on Monday issued a mandatory evacuation order for Dickinson, Texas, according to spokeswoman Brittany Viegas. Dickinson is about 172 miles northeast of coastal Rockport. A dramatic photo circulating on the Internet showed residents of an assisted living facility in Dickinson being rescued on Sunday.
-- There have been four confirmed storm-related deaths, according to officials. Five other Harris County fatalities are suspected of being storm-related, according to Tricia Bentley, spokeswoman for the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences. The manners of death will be confirmed this week, she said.
-- The average annual rainfall in Houston is 50 inches. The city has seen 25 inches of rain in two days. Another 25 could fall by Saturday.
-- Several cities, including Katy, Alvin, Friendswood, League City, Pasadena, Pearland, Seabrook and Webster, have instituted curfews.
-- The Houston Independent School District has canceled school for the week for the district's 215,000 students.
-- Dallas is opening a "mega-shelter" at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, but Mayor Mike Rawlings said, "We may have thousands upon thousands upon thousands of more individuals that will get bigger than this convention center."
-- President Trump approved Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards' request for an emergency declaration. The governor said in his request that he believes Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron, Jefferson Davis and Vermilion parishes will face the brunt of Harvey's winds and rain. The President said he will also visit Louisiana on Saturday.
-- Energy provider CenterPoint says 96% of its Houston customers have power, but more than 104,000 are without electricity as crews experience difficulty reaching affected areas.
-- The NFL said the Houston Texans' preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys, scheduled for Thursday in Houston, has been moved to the Cowboys' home stadium in Arlington, Texas. The MLB's Astros and the University of Houston and University of Texas football teams -- as well as Louisiana State University, which has a game scheduled Saturday in Houston -- all have practices or games this week and were monitoring the storm before deciding if they will play
News Courtesy: www.cnn.com
