Army engineers, concerned that two big dams might fail, opened the floodgates to relieve the pressure, potentially sacrificing thousands of homes to save the city’s business district. The entire Texas Army National Guard, totalling 12,000 personnel, was mobilised. A resident of Houston posted a selfie on Twitter with her National Guard rescuer“The word catastrophic does not describe what we’re facing. We just don’t know when it’s going to end,” said Sheila Jackson Lee, one of Houston’s congressional representatives. Six members of one family were feared dead last night after their van was swept away by the floodwaters.

Source: The Times August 28, 2017 23:26 UTC