August 27, 2017

The Flooding in Houston Is Absolutely Devastating

Fifty inches of rain could fall in parts of Texas.

Mark Mulligan/Houston Chronicle via AP

Hurricane Harvey has now been downgraded to a tropical storm, but the devastation is only just beginning for southeast Texas. After the storm made landfall near Rockport, Texas, as a powerful Category 4 hurricane, emergency officials reported heavy damages to buildings in homes in the small town of 10,000 as well as in nearby Port Aransas. Now, catastrophic flooding has begun. Two feet of rain fell in just 24 hours in Houston. Forecasters are calling for as much as 50 inches of rain, the highest ever recorded in Texas, by the time the storm is over.

The National Weather Service in Houston issued a flash flood emergency as reports of devastating flooding began to come in.

By Sunday morning, highways and neighborhoods were already submerged.

911 services were overwhelmed as stranded people called for help.

More than 1,000 people have been rescued so far in the Houston area. The rain is expected to continue to fall for the next few days with the possibility of the storm going back out to the Gulf of Mexico and making another landfall in Houston on Wednesday.

More Mother Jones reporting on Climate Desk

Fact:

In-depth journalism that investigates the powerful takes real money and is so damn important right now.But it doesn’t take a Mother Jones investigation to know that billionaires and corporations will never fund the type of reporting (like they do politicians) we do that exists to help bring about change. Instead, our mission-driven journalism is made possible by people power, and has been for 46 years now since our founding as a non-profit.

In “TITLE TK” Monica Bauerlein writes about the perilous moment we’re in, and why it’s so important that we raise $325,000 by the time November’s midterms are decided so we can be ready to throw everything we have at the big issues facing the nation no matter what happens. Please help MoJo’s people-powered journalism with a donation today.

$400,000 to go!

payment methods

Fact:

In-depth journalism that investigates the powerful takes real money and is so damn important right now.But it doesn’t take a Mother Jones investigation to know that billionaires and corporations will never fund the type of reporting (like they do politicians) we do that exists to help bring about change. Instead, our mission-driven journalism is made possible by people power, and has been for 46 years now since our founding as a non-profit.

In “TITLE TK” Monica Bauerlein writes about the perilous moment we’re in, and why it’s so important that we raise $325,000 by the time November’s midterms are decided so we can be ready to throw everything we have at the big issues facing the nation no matter what happens. Please help MoJo’s people-powered journalism with a donation today.

$400,000 to go!

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate