BEAUMONT (WBAP/KLIF News) – Governor Greg Abbott gave an update on the current situation in South Texas in the wake of Tropical Storm Harvey Friday afternoon.
So far, more than 8500 people have been rescued in the Houston area, which was the hardest hit, since Harvey made landfall last week and at least 47 people have been killed.
Abbott said despite the fact that the flood waters in Houston and Corpus Christi are starting to recede and the cities are starting to recover, there are still parts of South Texas that remain deadly dangerous.
“In the Beaumont area, the Neches River continues to rise. It is about 7 feet above the record and it will continue to remain at or near that high for about the next week,” he said.
In fact, the Texas National Guard on Friday focused a good portion of their search and recovery efforts in Beaumont.
Meanwhile, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner is urging resident whose homes are still flooded in the western part of the city to evacuate because planned reservoir releases will keep water flowing into their homes for 10 to 15 days.
Shelters across the state and in Louisiana are filling up with evacuees.
“The overnight population in Texas shelters was 42,399. Of those amount, 6,000 are in state parks. In addition to that, our great friend and neighbor Louisiana has about 3,000 in shelters,” said Abbott.
The governor also addressed rumors that the state is dealing with a gas shortage due to Harvey. Several refineries along the coast were shut down because of Harvey but Abbott said that has not lead to a shortage in the state.
“There’s plenty of fuel…plenty of gasoline in the United States of America. There’s plenty of gasoline in Texas. All that said, we are ensuring an even greater supply of gasoline so we can tamp down any concern about accessibility,” he said.
Harvey is on record as being the worst mega storm on the coastal mainland in U.S. history, dumping more than 50 inches of rain and flooding most of Houston and parts of the surrounding cities.
Since the disaster, the federal government and private cities have stepped in to help with recovery efforts.
Next week, an initial $5.9 billion down payment in Harvey recovery aid will head to Congress. Some in Washington speculate that the area could need more than $150 billion in federal aid.
Charity organizations, private citizens and celebrities have raised tens of millions of dollars in aid.
Abbott said the silver lining in this tragic situation is the way Texans have come together to help fellow Texans in need.
“One of the most profound things that we have observed in the after math of this horrific and devastating storm is both the resiliency and the way Texans have been united…supporting each other,” he said.
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