Officials reported Wednesday that Harvey has destroyed 30,000 to 40,000 homes in the Houston area since Friday when it made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane.
Houston has now had more than 50 inches of rain from Harvey since Friday, and thousands of people are still stranded as the storm moves inland toward Tennessee.
“We have people who are on the second floor of their homes; they’re riding it out, and they’re waiting for the waters to go down,” Harris County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management Director Ed Emmett told ABC News.
Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo reported water rescue 911 calls were down to about 40 an hour Wednesday morning, but the Coast Guard is still getting more than 1,000 calls per hour from people who needed to be rescued, the New York Post reported.
The Navy has sent two ships — the USS Kearsarge and the USS Oak Hill — to the area to assist with storm relief, ABC News reported.
Power outages were down to 75,000, but 32,000 of those were not accessible to crews, officials reported to ABC Wednesday.
The Houston Airport is now operating normally and is trying to get more flights out to help ease demand.
Thirty-one people are confirmed dead from the storm, and more are missing as the storm waters begin to recede in some areas, ABC reported.
Twitter users warned people to beware of buying used cars and wondered if people would rebuild in the same area.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.