The Standard’s news roundup gives you a quick hit of interesting, sometimes irreverent, and breaking news stories from all over the state.
Hurricane Harvey’s initial assault on the Texas coast may be over, but some of the worst flooding may still be to come.
The stalled-out storm system is expected to keep dumping rain on already waterlogged parts of Texas, with some forecasts saying rainfall totals could top a record-breaking 50 inches in isolated areas over the next several days.
As of this morning, high waters have claimed five lives, and and more deaths are expected as flooding continues.
Gov. Greg Abbott activated 3,000 state and National Guard members to help rescue stranded flood victims, before activating the entire Texas National Guard reserve of 12,000 members.
As Houston Public Media’s Florian Martin reports, some civilians are pitching in on search-and-rescue efforts, too.
Alma Roberts and her family live in a house in southwest Houston, near Meyerland. Martin reports. That part of the city has suffered serious flooding in each of the past several storm events – and this one is no exception.
They evacuated to Montgomery of the region to stay with family.
But Roberts 22-year old son stayed behind to help their neighbors, together with a friend. So far, he’s used a canoe to rescue a mother, her two children and two dogs from their flooded home.
Roberts says it’s the third year in row their house of 14 years has flooded.
She says they’re now finally considering moving – but the value of their house has dropped significantly after the last two floods.
Yesterday, President Donald Trump announced plans to visit Texas on Tuesday.
The storm-recovery efforts will likely be one of the biggest external challenges for the president, in a tenure marked by an ever-changing cabinet and internal instability.
In an interview with CBS This Morning, Gov. Abbot said that Trump would not be headed to areas with active evacuations. “The place he will be going to will not be Houston,” Abbott said, “so he will not be getting into harm’s way or interrupting the evacuations or the emergency response in the Houston area.”
Instead, President Trump will be headed to the areas where Harvey initially made landfall.
Abbott added that today he would also be traveling to those areas, like Corpus Christi and Rockport, with FEMA Director Brock Long. “It just goes to show the magnitude of the storm … people have already forgotten the horrific way that the Corpus Christi area got hit by this storm just a few days ago.”
Though Corpus Christi and nearby cities were in the direct path of the Category 4 Hurricane when it made landfall, the worst has passed there and cleanup has begun.
While officials and relief organizations ask Texans spared from the storm to pitch in on relief efforts,
Some good neighbors are also sending help across state lines.
The so-called Cajun Navy – a group of volunteers from Louisiana – is heading to Texas to help with search and rescue.
The group formed 12 years ago after Hurricane Katrina, and uses their personal boats to rescue flood victims. A member told USA Today that they wanted to repay the kindness Houstonians showed to Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina.
