Harvey moves onto Louisiana but weakens to a tropical depression as it goes
ADVERTISEMENTTropical storm Harvey has been down graded to a depression as it moved eastwards to Louisiana but it still brought with it heavy rain and strong winds.
News that the weather system is weakening was little comfort to those in Texas. The catastrophic flooding has left at least 30 people dead and there are fears of finding more bodies when the waters reseed.
Louisiana’s Governor John Bel Edwards didn’t play down the challenge facing residents in his state,
“Thus far, obviously things are not as bad as had been forecast and so we’re very thankful for that. Based upon the amount of rainfall, the severity of winds, storm surge, all of it across Louisiana while things are still serious and there’s a long way to go.
Here is some of what we are seeing just north of Lake Charles. Cars and homes under water. #HarveyFlood#Harvey#Louisiana#LakeCharlespic.twitter.com/QmBl82Jto4
— Kumasi Aaron (@KumasiNews) August 30, 2017
For those forced out of their homes, one shelter in Port Arthur on the Texas border with Louisiana was itself flooded leaving around 100 displaced people now where to go.
A nursing home nearby was also inundated.Some patients are thought to have spent 24 hours in the building before being evacuated.
Busloads of people fleeing floodwaters around Port Arthur have been arriving in nearby Lake Charles, joining local residents who had already packed into shelters to escape waterlogged homes.
US President Donald Trump opened a speech on tax reform in Springfield, Missouri, on Wednesday with a pledge to stand by the people of Texas and Louisiana. He has already visited Texas to survey damage from the first major natural disaster of his presidency.
An estimated 32,000 people have sought shelter since slow moving Harvey came ashore on Friday.
The economic cost has been put at between 51 to 75 billion dollars.
Clearer skies over Texas brought some relief on Wednesday ( Aug 30) but the worst is not over… flood waters are expected to linger for up to a week.