WASHINGTON
Torrential rains have flooded hundreds of homes and stranded thousands in the Texas city of Houston as bayous and rivers overran their banks overnight Tuesday.
Parts of southwest Houston were hit by nearly 28 centimeters (11 inches) of rain beginning Monday night, the National Weather Service reported.
Major roadways were flooded by the deluge, stranding motorist amid mass gridlock in America’s fourth largest city.
City firefighters said they have so far carried out more than 500 water-related rescues.
Extreme weather has wracked much of Texas and the neighboring states of Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Mississippi since the weekend, resulting in at least eight deaths in Texas and Oklahoma alone and mass property damage in the region, according to local media.
Weekend thunderstorms in Texas and Oklahoma sent torrents of water flowing downstream into the Houston area, resulting in mass flooding when the overnight rains struck Tuesday.
In response to the emergency, President Barack Obama reassured Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday morning that the federal government would lend its full support as the state responds to the disaster.
“I will anticipate that there will be some significant requests made to Washington,” Obama said at a joint press conference at the White House with the NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg. “My pledge to him [Abbott] is that we will expedite those requests to make sure that both search-and-rescue operations where necessary, but also recovery operations occur as efficiently and as quickly as possible.”
Obama on Tuesday issued a disaster declaration for Oklahoma, ordering federal agencies to assist in disaster relief efforts stemming from severe weather that took place earlier in May.
