Soldiers and police in helicopters and special high-water trucks yesterday rescued thousands of Texans stranded by floodwater from Hurricane Harvey, which killed dozens of people as it drenched the Gulf Coast this week.
Some 779,000 Texans had been ordered to evacuate their homes and another 980,000 had fled voluntarily amid concerns that swollen reservoirs and rivers could bring new flooding, according to Department of Homeland Security acting Secretary Elaine Duke.
Harvey roared ashore late Friday as the most powerful hurricane to hit Texas in a half-century but had been downgraded to a tropical depression yesterday as it headed inland.
Jessica Richard, 24, said she had waited out the storm in her home in Port Arthur until the morning, when water on her street rose to waist-high.
She headed out and was picked up by a passing truck.
“All my family is safe even though there were a few close calls,” said Richard, adding that her nephew had been trapped overnight in a flooded apartment with several family members.
“He said there were snakes in the water and spiders crawling up the walls. But they got out.”
At least 37 people were dead or feared dead in six counties including and around Houston, according to local officials.
In the US energy hub of Houston, which was paralysed by the storm earlier in the week, firefighters conducted a block-by-block search of homes to rescue stranded survivors and recover bodies.