More than a foot of rain in some places flooded low-lying areas across the Houston region on Monday, forcing officials to suspend bus and rail service, close schools and government offices and urge residents to stay home amid what authorities said were extremely dangerous conditions.
“This is a life-threatening emergency,” the city said on an emergency website. “Houston residents should avoid travel at all costs today.”
No injuries or deaths have been reported, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner told reporters Monday, but crews have had to head into the high waters to rescue more than 400 people, fire department spokesman Ruy Lozano told CNN.
At least 1,000 homes were flooded in Harris County, according to county Judge Ed Emmett. Some people were trapped in their homes or attics, Lozano said.
The water was too deep for crews to reach them in high-water vehicles, so rescuers were trying to get to those people in boats, he said.
[Watch Houston Reporter – Raw video Rescues Driver LIVE]
[vc_btn title=”More on Houston Flooding” style=”outline” color=”primary” size=”lg” align=”left” link=”url:http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F2016%2F04%2F18%2Fus%2Fhouston-texas-flooding%2Findex.html|title:More%20on%20Houston%20Flooding|target:%20_blank”][vc_message message_box_style=”3d” message_box_color=”turquoise”]By Michael Pearson, CNN, SouthFloridaReporter.com, April 18, 2016
Additional video from KTRK/Houston via FTVLive.com[/vc_message]
