Heavy rains this week have left chunks of Houston underwater, trapping residents in cars and buildings and closing roads across the city.
Yesterday, parts of Texas were hit with 11 inches of rainfall, shortly after other storms which left the ground waterlogged. Now, this may not sound like a lot, but unfortunately, water doesn’t stay where it lands: it collects in areas of lower ground and forms giant pools and rivers on roads and in open spaces.
To make matters worse, the Buffalo Bayou, a slow-moving river in the city, overflowed its banks; that in turn flooded a wastewater plant and let loose 100,000 gallons of waste water.
At time of writing, five people have died as a result of the freak weather, including one man who had a heart attack while trying to push his car out of floodwaters. Another 13 are missing.
Here’s what was once a bike path:
And this is not a charming inner-city canal, but Interstate 45:
This car was on its way down Interstate 45 when the storm hit:
President Obama promised yesterday to send federal resources to assist in the flood relief effort
Images: Getty.
