44 dead in Harvey devastation

International Desk: A flood-hit southeast Texas city lost its drinking water supply and police and soldiers rescued thousands still stranded on Thursday after powerful storm Harvey killed 44 people and displaced more than a million others.

About 779,000 Texans have been told to leave their homes and another 980,000 fled voluntarily amid dangers of new flooding from swollen rivers and reservoirs.

The city of Beaumont, about 130 km east of Houston, had its water supplies cut off and was threatened by a rising river that forced the evacuation of its hospital and residents in neighbouring Orange County.

There were also explosions at a chemical plant about 40 km east of Houston after it was engulfed by floodwater.

Harvey has been downgraded to a tropical depression as it heads inland, leaving devastation across the southeast corner of Texas.

Jessica Richard, 24, said she waited out the storm in her home in Port Arthur, about 135 km east of Houston, until Thursday morning when water on her street rose to waist-high. She was picked up by a passing truck.

Richard said her nephew had been trapped with several family members overnight in a flooded apartment.

"He said there were snakes in the water and spiders crawling up the walls. But they got out," she said.

At least 44 people were dead or feared dead in six counties including and around Houston, officials said. Another 19 remain missing.

In Houston, firefighters conducted a house-by-house search to rescue stranded survivors and recover bodies as some residents began to return to their homes to assess the damage.

In Beaumont, doctors and nurses evacuated 190 people from a hospital that halted operations after the storm knocked out water service in the city of almost 120,000 people.

US Vice President Mike Pence visited Texas on Thursday, touring the coastal city of Rockport, where Harvey slammed ashore six days ago.

"The American people are with you. We are here today, we will be here tomorrow and we will be here every day until this city and this state and this region rebuild bigger and better than ever before," Pence said outside a damaged church.

President Donald Trump will return to the region on Saturday.

About 189,000 homes and businesses remain without power and nearly 100,000 homes suffered flood damage.

Agencies



risingbd/Dhaka/Sep 1, 2017/Nasim