Houston Rain Subsides, Texas Troubles Far From Over
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HOUSTON (CBSMiami) - Harvey's record breaking rainfall that flooded Houston is winding down, but the trouble is far from over.
Harvey made landfall again early Wednesday morning just west of Cameron, Louisiana. Exactly 12 years since Hurricane Katrina, Harvey many now dump up to eight inches of rain on New Orleans. City engineers there are working on repairing several water pumps that failed after a storm earlier this month dropped about that amount.
Overnight, Harvey slammed the Beaumont area in southeastern Texas with lighting, wind, and what the National Weather Service called "catastropic and life threatening flooding."
"Every highway is closed so we can't get out, we can't evacuate," said one woman.
The town's mayor estimated 20,000 homes have water in them. Some residents took to social media and tweeted desperate pleas for help.
People who fled to the city's civic center found even more misery .
"Everybody has to start getting into survival mode and start getting yourself to higher elevations," said Marcus McLellan with the Jefferson Co. Sheriff's Office.
Harvey Flooding: How You Can Help
In Houston the sun is finally shining again, but it could be weeks even months before the flood waters recede.
FEMA says so far they have received 195-thousand requests for help and at least 40-thousand homes in Houston have water damage.
For now, more than 30,000 people are packed into shelters across Texas.
Michelle Lavan and her family had no cots to sleep on when they arrived at the city's main shelter which was operating at double capacity.
"Houston wasn't prepared. The governor wasn't prepared. The mayor wasn't prepared," she said.
Two more mega shelters are now open and officials say additional supplies are arriving daily.
"The federal government is in this for the long haul. We will continue to suppport the peole of Texas," said Elaine Duke, acting-Secretary of Homeland Security.
After reports of looting, Houston city officials have implemented a midnight to 5 a.m. curfew.
The confirmed death toll from Harvey now stands at 11, including a Houston police officer who drowned inside his vehicle, trapped by flood waters.