Tracking Harvey: Before-and-after images show the catastrophic flooding in Houston

By Rebecca Harrington From Business Insider

Hurricane Harvey, which has since been downgraded to a tropical storm, has dumped over 2 feet of rain on Houston, Texas, and two more feet are expected.

The forecast suggests Houston will get 50 inches of rain — as much as the city of 2.3 million people usually receives in an entire year.

The deluge has turned the city’s roads into rivers, covered in feet of water:

houston skyline
Shutterstock

hurricane harvey houston flood
Interstate 45 in Houston after Hurricane Harvey.REUTERS/Richard Carson

Here’s what Houston looked like before and after Hurricane Harvey:

Since the storm’s landfall on Friday, Houston has received over 25 inches of rain, with some areas seeing over 30 inches.

Before the flood and after on Buffalo Bayou in Houston. Just an unreal amount of water http://youtu.be/7Saq_ZYPS40

Source: The Weather Channel

The National Hurricane Center projects Houston will get 50 inches of rain total, causing “catastrophic and life-threatening flooding.”
View image on Twitter

Source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

It was still raining Monday morning, and the deluge isn’t expected to stop until at least Tuesday. Brock Long, the administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said officials were still focusing on rescue and recovery and would have to wait until the storm passed to evaluate the damage.
View image on TwitterView image on Twitter

Texas Tribune ✔ @TexasTribune
The left is Memorial Parkway on Saturday.

The right is Memorial Parkway Sunday morning. #Harvey #HoustonFlood http://trib.it/2izbP2E

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“I’m not sure where the water is going to go because it’s just so much that we can’t really absorb more in the ground at this point,” Art Acevedo, the Houston police chief, said on Monday, adding, “We have way too much water and not enough places for it to drain.”
View image on Twitter

CBS News ✔ @CBSNews
Photos provided by a Texas resident shows Houston before and after Hurricane Harvey’s devastating flooding http://cbsn.ws/2xB30Ic

Source: MSNBC

Houston didn’t declare mandatory evacuations, and it encouraged residents to stay put unless they were in immediate danger. Mayor Sylvester Turner has defended that decision, saying it’s often more dangerous to evacuate a city during a hurricane.

Before and after shows the rainfall and devastation in Houston. #Harvey
Source: Associated Press

Turner said on Sunday that almost 6,000 people had called emergency services asking to be rescued. Police and firefighters had saved over 1,000 people, plucking many from rooftops using aircraft, dump trucks, and boats.
View image on TwitterView image on Twitter

Buffalo Bayou Park in Houston
before and after.

And the flooding continues.#Harveyhttp://abcn.ws/2xnJr6U

Source: AP

Rushing water underground caused sinkholes to swallow roads, like this one on Highway FM 762 in Rosenberg, Texas.

Before the storm.Google Maps

Forecasters predict Harvey will go back out over the Gulf, pick up more moisture, then come back across eastern Texas and go up to Louisiana, wreaking havoc for the rest of the week. As of Monday morning, the storm is most likely only halfway over.

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SportSlant Sports @SportSlant
Fascinating before/after video of #Houston flooding. https://nyti.ms/2wa6zXX via @nytvideo pic.twitter.com/NDw1S5rfR4 (RT @nycjim)

The New York Times put together a video showing side-by-side images of the “deluging highways” in Houston. Louis Uccellini, the director of the National Weather Service, said Monday that the floodwaters would be slow to recede.

For more on this story and video go to; http://www.businessinsider.com/photos-harvey-flooding-houston-texas-before-and-after-hurricane-rain-2017-8/#the-new-york-times-put-together-a-video-showing-side-by-side-images-of-the-deluging-highways-in-houston-louis-uccellini-the-director-of-the-national-weather-service-said-monday-that-the-floodwaters-would-be-slow-to-recede-9