Rainfall at Easterwood Airport from Friday 10 p.m. through Monday at midnight measured 14.83 inches. Most of the running total was between Saturday at 8 a.m. and Tuesday at 10 a.m.
Tuesday’s hourly rainfall between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. never exceeded .20 of an inch. And there was no rain reported Tuesday between 6 and 7 p.m.
Friday night rainfall was .02 inches.
Saturday rainfall was 4.67 inches.
Sunday rainfall measured 7.46 inches.
Sunshine broke over the twin cities at sunset to the west, while there was a rainbow to the east.
School and government information:
Sam Houston State remains closed through Labor Day. Classes will resume Tuesday, September 5.
Texas A&M and Blinn are closed through Tuesday, August 29. Texas A&M and Blinn have announced classes will resume Wednesday, August 30.
Bryan ISD is starting two hours late on Tuesday, August 29, and there is no morning pre-kindergarten. All Bryan ISD bus pick-ups, school start times, employee arrival times and normally scheduled activities will be delayed two hours from their normal start time.
College Station ISD has announced classes will resume Tuesday, August 29.
According to the Brazos Community Emergency Operations Center, the Brazos County Expo is now open as a large animal shelter. Proof of Coggins is preferred but they have the capability of quarantining those without. Stalls are available for a one-time fee of $20 which includes one bag of shavings and each additional bag is $8. If you or someone you know is in need of sheltering horses, please call 2-1-1.
From the Brazos Community Operations Center:
There is structural damage to the Clifty Creek Lake Dam on Barbara T Ranch Rd.
A partial breech has occurred causing damage to FM 159.
Brazos County Sheriff’s Office and the Texas Department of Transportation is currently on scene assessing the situation.
We ask residents in the area to stay in place at this time.
If you feel you need to be evacuated or are having an immediate emergency contact 911.
We also ask motorists to avoid FM 159 area.
From The Associated Press:
HOUSTON (AP) _ The Latest on Tropical Storm Harvey (all times local) includes Houston’s mayor reporting says (as of 7:40 p.m. Tuesday) 3,052 people rescued by police since Harvey inundated the city, 1,000 in the last 8 hours.
6:55 p.m.
Officials in Baytown, a refinery suburb east of Houston, are urging residents of two subdivisions along a rain-swollen bayou to put white towels or sheets on their windows to alert evacuation teams to rescue them.
Baytown spokeswoman Patti Jett says the 2,000 residents of Pinehurst and Whispering Pines subdivisions must be cleared out by nightfall, when non-life-threatening rescues will stop.
Jett says the sheets and towels in the windows will allow rescuers to better identify people they need to reach.
The neighborhoods border swift-flowing Cedar Bayou.
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6:30 p.m.
A Fort Bend County deputy and volunteers helped pull dozens of people trapped by flooding in their Sugar Land, Texas neighborhood to safety using a dump truck. People in the Village of Oak Lake subdivision trudged through knee-to-waist high water on West Airport Road to avoid being trapped.
Many of those rescued are now sheltering at Constellation Field, home to the unaffiliated minor baseball team the Sugar Land Skeeters. The team has welcomed people to stay inside until they can return to their homes.
The owners of baseball team, Marcie and Bob Zlotnik, say they offered to open up Constellation Field and Sugarland’s mayor accepted. Bob Zlotnik says: “We’re doing what we can to help people out.”
He says they have about 200 people staying there now and can hold 500 people.
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6 p.m.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is adding four East Texas counties to the 54 Southeast Texas counties already covered by his Hurricane Harvey disaster declaration.
The Republican on Monday added Angelina, Trinity, Sabine and Orange counties to the counties already declared disaster areas. The declaration makes it easier for the state to manage resources essential for search, rescue and relief.
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5:30 p.m.
A meteorologist has calculated that by the end of Wednesday Harvey will have saturated southeast Texas with enough water to fill all the NFL and Division 1 college football stadiums more than 100 times over.
Ryan Maue of WeatherBell Analytics says that already 15 trillion gallons (57 trillion liters) of rain have fallen on a large area, and an additional 5 trillion (19 trillion liters) or 6 trillion gallons (23 trillion liters) are forecast by the end of Wednesday.
An Army Corps of Engineers official said Monday that Harvey is bringing amounts of rainfall seen only once in a thousand years.
Edmond Russo, a Corps deputy district engineer for Texas, made the comment at a Houston news conference Monday
Two dams _ at Barker Reservoir and Addicks Reservoir _ protecting downtown Houston and under the Corps’ management are built to withstand 1,000-year floods. Some levees in outlying areas are designed to protect against flooding that happens every 100 or 200 years.
Meteorologists say that sometime Tuesday or early Wednesday parts of the Houston region will break the nearly 40-year-old U.S. record for the biggest rainfall from a tropical system _ 48 inches, set by Tropical Storm Amelia in 1978 in Texas.
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5 p.m.
The National Hurricane Center says Harvey has slightly increased in strength as it went back to warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
It now has sustained winds of 45 mph (72 kph), up 5 mph (8 kph).
Forecasters expect Harvey to stay over water and at 45 mph (72 kph) for 36 hours and then head back inland east of Houston sometime Wednesday. The forecast has the storm then zipping north and losing its tropical storm strength and then its tropical characteristics.
Harvey made landfall in Texas late Friday as a Category 4 hurricane and has lingered just off the coast, dropping heavy rain as a tropical storm.
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4:20 p.m.
Officials say the ongoing release of water from two flood-control reservoirs in the Houston area is not expected to increase the levels of a swollen bayou that runs through heavily populated neighborhoods in west and central Houston and through the city’s downtown.
Buffalo Bayou has swollen due to torrential rain from Harvey.
Jeff Lindner is a meteorologist with the Harris County Flood Control District. He said Monday that levels on Buffalo Bayou have fallen from where they were Sunday. He says they’re holding steady despite the ongoing release of water from the Addicks and Barker reservoirs in west Houston.
The Army Corps of Engineers says the controlled release into Buffalo Bayou is being done to relief pressure on the two aging reservoirs. The Corps says if the releases weren’t done, excess water could go over the reservoirs’ spillways and flood a large area.
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3:55 p.m.
Authorities say a woman has been killed in the Houston area when a large dislodged by heavy rains from Harvey toppled onto her trailer home.
Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office Captain Bryan Carlisle says that the woman was killed around noon Monday in Porter. Her husband has reported that she was napping when the tree fell. Porter Fire Department firefighters had to wade through chest-level water to evacuate the woman’s husband, remove the tree and extract the body.
Harvey made landfall in Texas late Friday as a Category 4 hurricane and has lingered just off the coast, dropping heavy rain as a tropical storm.
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3:25 p.m.
Volunteers have used a dump truck to rescue about 20 people from a flooded Houston-area neighborhood.
The rescue effort happened Monday after some residents of Sugar Land got a constable’s attention to say they needed help to escape the waist-deep water. The officer managed to arrange a private truck.
Several residents then used small rafts and air mattresses to float out to the vehicle. Children were handed from one person to another to be loaded into the back of the truck.
The truck then headed to dry land at a minor league baseball park that’s been opened up as a staging area for people to evacuate.
Volunteers on personal watercraft and in kayaks also helped evacuate people from the subdivision threatened by the fast-swelling Brazos River.
Harvey made landfall in Texas late Friday as a Category 4 hurricane and has lingered just off the coast, dropping heavy rain as a tropical storm.
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3 p.m.
Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner says the city is working on opening another “major” shelter for people fleeing flooding from Harvey as the George S. Brown Convention Center reaches capacity.
Turner toured the convention center Monday, hugging evacuees and asking how they were doing. The convention center was already more than halfway to its 5,000-person capacity.
Turner said the city was considering its options for another major shelter, but did not say which buildings could be used.
Harvey made landfall in Texas late Friday as a Category 4 hurricane and has lingered just off the coast, dropping heavy rain as a tropical storm.
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2:50 p.m.
Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is again praising the federal government’s response to Harvey.
Abbott said at a news conference in Corpus Christi, Texas, on Monday that he had spoken “on multiple occasions” to President Donald Trump and members of his Cabinet.
Abbott said, “I would have to grade the federal government’s response as an A-plus.” He said the storm was “if not the largest, one of the largest disasters America has ever faced.” But he says, “to see the swift response from the federal government is pretty much unparalleled.”
Abbott expressed similar sentiments Sunday. It’s a departure for Abbott. He was elected governor in 2014 decrying federal “overreach” and boasting about using his former positon as Texas attorney general to sue the Obama administration nearly 30 times.
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2:40 p.m.
Officials are preparing to evacuate one of the nation’s busiest trauma centers as flooding from Harvey threatened to compromise the hospital’s supply of medicine and food.
A spokesman at Houston’s Office of Emergency Management said Monday that all 350 patients at Ben Taub Hospital would be evacuated, hopefully within a day. Floodwater and sewage got into the main hospital building’s basement and affected pharmacy, food service and other key operations. Patients will be sent to other area hospitals until repairs are made.
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center also canceled outpatient services, appointments and surgeries at all Houston-area locations through Tuesday, and was asking patients not to attempt to travel because of high water in the Texas Medical Center area.
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2:35 p.m.
A mandatory evacuation has been ordered for a Southeast Texas city of about 20,000 that’s been inundated by Harvey floodwaters.
Dickinson police announced the city’s mandatory evacuation that took effect at 2 p.m. Monday.
Dickinson is a low-lying city about 30 miles (48 kilometers) southeast of Houston. It’s along Dickinson Bayou. Crews on Sunday rescued more than 20 residents and staffers from an assisted-living center in Dickinson that flooded.
The police statement cited the fragile infrastructure in the city amid flooding, limited working utilities and concern for the forecast track of Harvey. Transportation was available for those needing help leaving Dickinson.
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2:30 p.m.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency says its response to Hurricane Harvey is “quickly drawing down” the reserves in the agency’s disaster fund.
FEMA says it’s prioritizing its response to Harvey over earlier disasters to stretch the life of its disaster aid fund to make sure it doesn’t run out of money.
In a message to Capitol Hill, FEMA says it will only fund immediate emergency response “so that FEMA can continue its focus on response and urgent recovery efforts without interruption.”
FEMA’s most recent report says it has more than $3 billion in its disaster fund. About half of that was supposed to be spent to respond to earlier disasters, but Monday’s announcement frees up more of the money for responding to Harvey.
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2:10 p.m.
A television station is reporting that six family members are believed to have drowned in Houston when their van was swept away by floodwaters.
The KHOU-TV report was attributed to three family members the station didn’t identify. No bodies have been recovered.
Houston police Chief Art Acevedo tells The Associated Press he has no information about the KHOU report but added that he’s “really worried about how many bodies we’re going to find” from Harvey’s devastating flooding.
According to the station, four children _ the youngest, a 6-year-old girl _ and their grandparents are feared dead after the van hit high floods Sunday afternoon when crossing a bridge in Greens Bayou.
The driver of the vehicle, the children’s great-uncle, reportedly escaped before the van was submerged and grabbed onto a tree limb as the van sunk. He told the children inside to try to escape through the back door, but they were unable to get out.
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2 p.m.
Former President George W. Bush says he and former first lady Laura Bush are confident that communities hit by Harvey “will recover and thrive.”
Bush, who lives in Dallas, released a statement Monday that he and his wife are “proud of the people of Texas for showing the resilience and compassion of our state.” He says they’re “moved by the heroic work of the first responders and volunteers who are putting themselves at risk to save others.”
Harvey made landfall in Texas late Friday as a Category 4 hurricane and has lingered just off the coast, dropping heavy rain as a tropical storm.
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1:45 p.m.
Texas regulators say a 150,000-barrel (6.3 million gallon) fuel storage tank spilled an unspecified amount of gasoline east of Houston after tilting over due to large volumes of rain from Harvey.
The spill occurred at Kinder Morgan’s Pasadena Terminal on Saturday. Ramona Nye with the Texas Railroad Commission says the fuel was captured by a containment dike at the facility and fire-retardant foam was sprayed over it to prevent an ignition. Company representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.
In a second incident, a fiberglass storage tank operated by Karbuhn Oil Company burst into fire after being hit by lightning early Sunday morning. Nye says an estimated 5 barrels (210 gallons) of oil was released.
Harvey made landfall in Texas late Friday as a Category 4 hurricane and has lingered just off the coast, dropping heavy rain as a tropical storm.
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1:35 p.m.
The National Hurricane Center says Harvey is drifting “erratically” back toward the Gulf Coast after having moved inland since making landfall late Friday.
An advisory Monday afternoon from the center says life-threatening flooding continues for Houston and the broader southeastern Texas region.
Harvey has maximum sustained winds of 40 mph (64 kph). The center says it may slowly intensify as it moves closer to the coast.
Harvey is forecast to turn back toward the northeast at some point Tuesday.
An additional 25 inches (64 centimeters) of rainfall is forecast through Friday and the center says other threats include tornadoes and a coastal storm surge of 1 to 3 feet (0.3 meter to 0.91 meter) moving inland from the coast.
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1:10 p.m.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers rates the two 70-year-old dams that protect Houston as among a handful of “extremely high risk” dams in the U.S.
Concerns include the way the two structures were built in the 1940s, and the threat to the people and property of the nation’s 4th-biggest city if they were to fail.
The Corps said Monday it was starting to release water from the two dams, called Addicks and Barker. The move would worsen flooding in some neighborhoods, but was necessary to prevent bigger, uncontrolled flows later, the Corps said in a statement.
The Houston dams are older than even the already high average age _ 56 years _ of dams in the United States. The Corps has acknowledged a long history of seepage through the dams. A $75 million fix to the two dams’ floodgates is slated for completion in 2019.
The Corps ‘”was confident that the structures continue to perform as they were designed to do,” it said in Monday’s statement.
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12:40 p.m.
Officials say Houston’s 911 system has received and processed 75,000 calls since Harvey inundated many parts of the city.
That includes nearly 20,000 calls just since 10 p.m. Sunday.
Joe Laud is the administration manager for the Houston Emergency Center. He said Monday that 911 operators have been able to reduce the backlog of calls they have, going from 120 to 250 calls in their queue to 10 to 15 calls.
He says that on average, the system usually get 8,000 or 9,000 calls per day.
Laud says officials have also initiated a voice activated system that lets callers know that the 911 system has received their call and that they should stay on the phone until someone comes on the line. Laud says some people were apparently hanging up because they didn’t think their call would be answered.
Harvey made landfall late Friday as a Category 4 hurricane and has lingered just off the coast, dropping heavy rain as a tropical storm.
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12:20 p.m.
The federal government has enough disaster aid money to deal with the immediate aftermath of Harvey _ for now.
But a multibillion dollar aid package is a sure bet to be added to an already packed agenda facing lawmakers when they return to Washington next week.
Top Capitol Hill aides say they have assurances from the Trump administration that the $3 billion balance in the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s disaster fund is enough to handle immediate needs, such as debris removal and temporary shelter for thousands of Texas residents displaced from their homes.
An infusion of more FEMA money will be needed soon, however, given the magnitude of the storm. It’s seen as a likely add-on to a temporary government-wide funding bill to prevent a shutdown in October.
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12:10 p.m.
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz says he won’t second-guess the decision not to ask Houston residents to evacuate before Harvey hit the city with heavy rain and wind.
The Texas Republican on Monday toured the downtown convention center housing thousands of evacuees. He says there will be “plenty of time after this disaster to look back in hindsight and see what lessons could be learned.”
Cruz said that the government “will do what is necessary to rebuild,” though he didn’t commit to voting for potential legislation to provide funding for the recovery.
Cruz wouldn’t comment on criticism from U.S. Rep. Peter King, a New York Republican, that he didn’t vote for an aid package for Superstorm Sandy.
Cruz said, “This is not a time for politics.”
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12 p.m.
Houston’s mayor says city officials are keeping watch on the ongoing release of water from two flood-control reservoirs in the Houston area to see if it might cause additional flooding in some neighborhoods.
The Army Corps of Engineers says the controlled release into Buffalo Bayou is being done to relief pressure on the Addicks and Barker reservoirs, which have been overwhelmed by flood waters from Tropical Storm Harvey. The reservoirs help prevent flooding in downtown Houston and other urban areas to the east.
The release of water is expected to flood some neighborhoods near the reservoirs. And officials are worried that other homes in areas near Buffalo Bayou, which had gone out of its banks, could be impacted as well.
Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner says he’s asking the Harris County Flood Control District for more information on how much higher Buffalo Bayou could rise and whether that could result in more homes in west Houston being flooded.
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11:55 a.m.
Officials in Houston are working to pump out water from one of its water treatment plants, which has been submerged by rainfall from Harvey.
Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said Monday that the plant, in the northeast part of the city, remains operational.
Turner said most of the Houston water supply will be OK. But if the plant drops to below 20 percent capacity, the city might be forced to issue a notice to residents to boil their water.
Officials say because the plant is under water, it is difficult for workers to get equipment to the site and to do any adjustments and maintenance.
Harvey made landfall late Friday as a Category 4 hurricane and has lingered just off the coast, dropping heavy rain as a tropical storm.
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11:40 a.m.
Water in a Houston-area neighborhood along a creek that’s overflowing has reached the roofline of single-story homes.
People can be heard yelling for help from inside homes in the Cypress Forest Estates subdivision in northern Harris County also can be heard as a steady procession of rescue boats head into the area.
One man, Joe Garcia, wearing a blue jacket and a New York Mets cap, was carrying his German Shepherd, Heidi, in chest-deep water before he was picked up by a boat. Garcia said he floated out a tub of his belongings, then went back in to get his dog.
The current is swift and the waters have continued to rise Monday.
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11:15 a.m.
Texas’ governor is activating the entire Texas National Guard for search and rescue efforts following Hurricane Harvey, bringing the total deployment to roughly 12,000.
Gov. Gregg Abbott said Monday that it’s “imperative we do everything possible” to protect lives. About 3,000 guard members had already been mobilized along the Texas coast.
Abbott says Texas is now activating others who are physically able and not currently deployed elsewhere.
Houston officials say they have rescued more than 2,000 people from flooding in the city. Harvey made landfall on Friday as a Category 4 hurricane.
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10:10 a.m.
Houston police Chief Art Acevedo says authorities have rescued 2,000 people from flooding in the city.
Acevedo says the city has 185 critical rescue requests still pending as of Monday morning. He says the goal is to rescue those people by the end of the day.
The comments came at a news conference where officials provided updates on Harvey, which is still pouring rain on the Houston area.
Harvey came ashore late Friday about 30 miles (48 kilometers) northeast of Corpus Christi, Texas, as a Category 4 hurricane but has since been downgraded to a tropical storm. The slow-moving storm has caused catastrophic flooding in Texas.
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9:40 a.m.
The shelter set up inside the George R. Brown Convention Center in downtown Houston has already reached half its capacity.
Ken Sandy, a shelter manager for the American Red Cross, said Monday that more than 2,600 people took shelter in the George R. Brown Convention Center. Organizers with the Red Cross estimate the convention center can accommodate roughly 5,000 people.
Sandy says the shelter is currently out of cots and waiting for more to arrive.
With Tropical Storm Harvey still pouring rain on the Houston area, thousands more people are expected to need to evacuate their homes.
The Red Cross has also set up other shelters throughout the area.
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9:20 a.m.
First lady Melania Trump will join President Donald Trump on his trip to storm-battered Texas.
The first lady’s spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham said on Twitter Monday: “(at)FLOTUS will travel to (hash)Texas w (at)POTUS this week.”
The White House has said Trump will travel to Texas on Tuesday. More details of the trip have not yet been released.
Harvey is the first major natural disaster of Trump’s presidency and a significant test for a White House that is often chaotic and rife with infighting.
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9:05 a.m.
A major South Texas airport has reopened after being closed due to Harvey.
A city statement said Corpus Christi International Airport resumed commercial air service Monday. Harvey made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane late Friday about 30 miles (48 kilometers) from there.
Two other major airports in the region, George Bush Intercontinental Airport
and Hobby Airport in Houston, remain closed as heavy rain and flooding continue.
Both have been shut down since midday Sunday as Harvey-related flooding swamped
roads leading to the airports
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8:55 a.m.
A Houston-area official says hundreds of people who’ve been rescued from their homes, vehicles and other places amid catastrophic flooding are being taken to dry land but not straight to shelters.
Harris County Judge Ed Emmett is the top administrator for the county that’s home to Houston. He said at a news conference Monday that many people are being ferried to a parking lot, school or other dry area as rescue personnel move on to the next rescue that’s needed. Those people then are struggling to find shelter, food and other resources.
Emmett says the focus now is on getting those people to shelters.
Meanwhile, Houston police Chief Art Acevedo on Monday told “Good Morning America” that he knows of 200 to 250 water rescues that still must be done in the city and that he hopes they’ll be completed by the end of the day.
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8:35 a.m.
Vice President Mike Pence is stressing that the federal government will support Harvey recovery efforts going forward.
In an interview with Houston radio station KTRH Monday morning, Pence said the federal government will make the resources available to see Texas through rescue operations and recovery.
Pence noted that given the “magnitude of the flooding” that “it will be years coming back.”
The vice president stressed that President Donald Trump has been “continuously engaged” on Harvey, noting that it is still the “beginning of the effort.” He said details of Trump’s visit to Texas will be “forthcoming.”
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8:30 a.m.
President Donald Trump has issued a federal emergency declaration for Louisiana as a storm that’s flooded Houston dumps heavy bands of rain on that state.
Trump’s emergency declaration on Monday initially covers five parishes in southwest Louisiana: Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron, Jefferson Davis and Vermillion.
A White House statement says the action authorizes the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate disaster relief efforts in those counties related to Harvey. The declaration also authorizes the federal government to cover 75 percent of costs of certain emergency protective measures.
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards says lifesaving efforts including search and rescue and shelters will be needed, especially in southwest Louisiana where forecasters say 10 to 20 inches (25 to 51 centimeters) of rain could fall.
Harvey came ashore late Friday about 30 miles (48 kilometers) northeast of Corpus Christi, Texas, as a Category 4 hurricane. The slow-moving storm has caused catastrophic flooding in Texas.
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8 a.m.
Emergency vehicles made up most of the traffic in downtown Houston on what would have normally been a busy start of the work week.
Due to Harvey, the usually bustling business area was mostly deserted Monday morning.
The water had receded from parts of downtown Houston, near Buffalo Bayou, which flooded over the weekend from the lingering tropical storm. That situation could change as officials have started releasing even more water from reservoirs overwhelmed by Harvey.
About half of downtown Houston had no working traffic signals. Most businesses, including restaurants, were closed due to the storm.
Harvey came ashore late Friday about 30 miles (48 kilometers) northeast of Corpus Christi, Texas, as a Category 4 hurricane. The slow-moving storm has caused catastrophic flooding in Texas.
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7:50 a.m.
Louisiana’s governor is asking President Donald Trump for a federal emergency declaration for Louisiana since forecasters expect Harvey to cause significant damage in the state.
Gov. John Bel Edwards said he sent a letter to the White House requesting the initial disaster declaration for five parishes in southwest Louisiana, and could add more areas to the request later.
Edwards said life-saving efforts such as search and rescue and shelters will be needed, especially in southwest Louisiana where forecasters say 10 to 20 inches (25 to 51 centimeters) of rain could fall.
Harvey came ashore late Friday about 30 miles (48 kilometers) northeast of Corpus Christi, Texas, as a Category 4 storm. The slow-moving storm has caused catastrophic flooding in Texas.
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7:15 a.m.
The director of the National Weather Service is warning that the catastrophic flooding that’s overwhelming Houston and other parts of Texas will worsen in the coming days and then be slow to recede once Harvey finally moves on.
Director Louis Uccellini said during a news conference Monday that up to 20 inches (51 centimeters) of rain could fall in the coming days, on top of the more than 30 inches (76 centimeters) some places have already seen.
He says some of the heaviest rainfall today, at a pace of 6 inches (15 centimeters) an hour, will fall east of Houston in places such as Beaumont and Lake Charles, Louisiana.
He adds that while Houston is experiencing a break from the rain Monday morning, heavy rainfall is forecast to return later in the day into Tuesday.
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7:05 a.m.
The Houston police chief is concerned about the prospect of more flooding, but is “keeping (his) fingers crossed” that the rain will subside.
In an interview Monday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Chief Art Acevedo says drainage is a concern.
He says he’s “not sure where the water is going because it’s just so much that we can’t really absorb more in the ground at this point. … We have way too much water and not enough places for it to drain.”
He says officers have voiced frustration that they don’t have enough high-water vehicles to quickly help everyone who is stranded.
He also warned any criminals who might try to take advantage of the disaster that his force has already arrested half a dozen people for looting.
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7 a.m.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is asking for volunteers to help Texas recover from Harvey.
William “Brock” Long, FEMA administrator, told a news conference in Washington Monday that “we need citizens to be involved,” because the storm and resulting flooding is greater than the government can handle.
Long urges individuals and organizations to check the website www.nvoad.org or call 1-800-621-FEMA to find out how to help. He’s asking for financial donations and for people “to figure out how to get involved as we help Texas find a new normal.”
A National Weather Service official says the peak flooding from the Houston-area storm is expected to max out Wednesday and Thursday, but said the floods will be slow to recede and that catastrophic flooding will persist.
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4:25 a.m.
Harvey continues to head back toward the Gulf of Mexico at a slow pace.
The National Hurricane Center says in its 4 a.m. CDT update that the tropical storm that made landfall late Friday as a Category 4 hurricane, dropping heavy rain in the Houston area, still has sustained winds of up to 40 mph (65 kph) and is centered 20 miles (30 kilometers) east of Victoria, Texas, about 120 miles (193 kilometers) southwest of Houston. It continues to creep to the southeast at 3 mph (4.8 kph).
That means it remains virtually stalled near the coast and continues to drop heavy rain on the Houston and Galveston areas. In the past 48 hours, numerous spots in the region have measured more than 25 inches (64 centimeters) of rain.
The hurricane center says Harvey’s center was expected to drift off the middle Texas coast on Monday and meander offshore through Tuesday before beginning “a slow northeastward motion.” The center says those in the upper Texas coast and in southwestern Louisiana should continue to monitor Harvey’s progress.
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3:38 a.m.
Houston officials continue to urge people to shelter in place and stay off flooded roadways as Harvey continues to batter the nation’s fourth-largest city.
Public Information Officer Keith Smith also says Sunday that rescue efforts continue and now are focused on those who feel trapped inside a home or building.
Smith says the city’s 911 emergency response system has been challenged by sharply increased call volumes since the tropical storm made landfall late Friday as a Category 4 hurricane. He says during a typical 24-hour period, the emergency response system receives about 8,000 calls. But during a 17-hour period following Harvey’s landfall, more than 56,000 911 calls were received.
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2:11 a.m.
As the nation’s fourth-largest city braced for more rain and rescues, officials started releasing even more water from reservoirs overwhelmed by Harvey even though the move aimed at protecting downtown Houston could make already devastating flooding worse around thousands of homes.
The strategic engineering move began early Monday. Harvey, which made landfall late Friday as a Category 4 hurricane and has lingered dropping heavy rain as a tropical storm, sent devastating floods pouring into Houston Sunday as rising water chased thousands of people to rooftops or higher ground and overwhelmed rescuers who could not keep up with the constant calls for help.
Jeff Lindner, a meteorologist for the Harris County Flood Control District, says residents affected by the release should pack what’s needed and leave when the sun comes up.
From Governor Abbott’s office:
Governor Greg Abbott today announced he has activated the entire Texas National Guard in response to Hurricane Harvey, bringing the total number of deployed guardsman to roughly 12,000. These National Guardsman will assist in the ongoing search and rescue effort for any Texans in immediate danger, and will be heavily involved in the extensive recovery effort in the aftermath of the storm.
“It is imperative that we do everything possible to protect the lives and safety of people across the state of Texas as we continue to face the aftermath of this storm,” said Governor Abbott. “The Texas National Guard is working closely with FEMA and federal troops to respond urgently to the growing needs of Texans who have fallen victim to Hurricane Harvey, and the activation of the entire Guard will assist in the efforts already underway. I would like to thank FEMA Administrator Brock Long, as well as all our brave first responders for their hard work in helping those impacted by this terrible storm.”
“While this is still a dangerous situation with a long response effort ahead, the state and people of Texas are resilient,” said FEMA Administrator Brock Long. “FEMA was here before the storm hit, and we will be here as long as needed, actively coordinating the full resources of the federal government, to support Gov. Abbott and the state.”
“The men and women of the Texas National Guard are working around the clock to support all relief efforts from Hurricane Harvey,” said Maj. Gen. John F. Nichols, Texas Adjutant General. “We will not rest until we have made every effort to rescue all those in harm’s way. We will remain here as long as we are needed. I want to thank Governor Abbott for his continued leadership and look forward to serving the great people of Texas.”
The Texas Guard currently has approximately 3,000 personnel activated and mobilized for operations relating to Hurricane Harvey rescue and recovery. This new mobilization by Governor Abbott send those who are physically able, not currently deployed, preparing to deploy or in a combat preparation cycle to answer the call for help and assist their fellow Texans in need. All Texas Military Department personnel should report to their respective units for further instructions.
From the Brazos Valley Red Cross office:
The Red Cross has opened a shelter in Bryan for local residents affected by flooding and weather damage.
LOCATION: Central Baptist Church, Family Life Center (back section of the lot)
WHEN: Open Now
We are also accepting donations of ONLY bottled water and store-bought, sealed snacks for our shelter populations, 4244 Boonville Rd, Bryan. Emphasis from the Red Cross that NO OTHER DONATIONS CAN BE ACCEPTED AT THIS TIME.
Reminders of Monday and Tuesday school and government closings:
Brazos County offices are closed Monday.
Texas A&M has cancelled classes on Monday and Tuesday.
Blinn College has updated its notice to cancel classes on Monday and Tuesday.
Bryan and College Station ISD’s have cancelled Monday classes.
UPDATED TRASH PICKUP FROM the city of College Station: Residential garbage will be collected the day after your scheduled collection day. Recycling, bulky, brush, commercial compactor and commercial roll-off are still being postponed until further notice. Commercial customers in need of an emergency collection can call Public Works at 979-764-3690.
The city of Bryan has suspended both commercial and residential solid waste service for Monday. Monday’s residential routes will be serviced Friday, September 1, with Brush/Bulky Pick-Up serviced on Saturday, September 2, weather permitting.
College Station city offices, court, and utility customer service functions will be closed Monday. Any utilities issues should be reported to 855.528.4278.
All city of Bryan outdoor recreational facilities and parks remain closed until further notice due to the inclement weather. The Neal Recreation Center will be closed Monday, August 28. As of 7 p.m. Sunday, city of Bryan municipal offices, municipal court, and BTU will be open on Monday.
UPDATE: All fixed routes for Brazos Transit were operating as of 9:30 Monday morning.
WTAW meteorologist Rob Carolan, on The Infomaniacs, explains what’s keeping Tropical Storm Harvey in our neighborhood.