(task) Port Arthur Faces Harvey Flooding Disaster: ‘Our Whole City Is Underwater’ - The New York Times

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flooding, Severity Level 4 Crisis, hurricane
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> https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/30/us/port-arthur-flooding.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=span-abc-region&region=span-abc-region&WT.nav=span-abc-region <https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/30/us/port-arthur-flooding.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=span-abc-region&region=span-abc-region&WT.nav=span-abc-region>
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> Port Arthur Faces Harvey Flooding Disaster: ‘Our Whole City Is Underwater’
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> Storm evacuees sat on bleachers at the Bowers Civic Center in Port Arthur, Tex., on Wednesday, after floodwaters inundated the facility overnight. Beulah Johnson, via Associated Press
> Even as the sun began to show in Houston on Wednesday, signaling a bit of relief after days of devastating rainfall from Tropical Storm Harvey <https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/29/us/harvey-texas-louisiana.html>, a region east of the city faced disaster anew after it was pummeled by rain overnight.
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> Residents of cities in Jefferson County, Tex., about 100 miles east of Houston, were desperate for help Wednesday morning after rain there caused floodwaters to rise precipitously <https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/30/us/hurricane-harvey-flooding-houston.html> and lightning made things particularly difficult for those responding to the storm.
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> Port Arthur’s mayor, Derrick Freeman, said on Facebook early Wednesday morning <https://www.facebook.com/derrickfordfreeman/posts/1868352863180505> that rescue teams were contending with fires while trying to get residents to safety.
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> “Our whole city is underwater right now,” he wrote, in a message of encouragement that nonetheless communicated the distress the city was facing.
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> The water is crazy out here at #Motiva <https://twitter.com/hashtag/Motiva?src=hash> and it's still raining. #PortArthur <https://twitter.com/hashtag/PortArthur?src=hash> #Harvey <https://twitter.com/hashtag/Harvey?src=hash> @12NewsNow <https://twitter.com/12NewsNow>— Leah Elyse Durain (@LeahDurain) 9:33 PM - Aug 29, 2017 <https://twitter.com/LeahDurain/status/902705836451131394>
> This is my Aunt and Uncle's hood in Port Arthur. The coast guard was called and told them they weren't coming bc it's not life threatening
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> — Shakti Khan (@pr0totype_) 9:17 AM - Aug 30, 2017 <https://twitter.com/pr0totype_/status/902883085884248064>
> The mayor of Beaumont, Becky Ames, told NBC <https://twitter.com/TODAYshow/status/902850571996205056> that the flooding was like nothing she had ever seen before.
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> “Every single body of water around us is at capacity and overflowing and the rain is still coming down,” she said.
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> Local news reports from Port Arthur showed that shelters and homes were flooded, and residents and reporters said that there were not enough people answering emergency calls.
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> Calls for help from residents spread on social media, leading Port Arthur to trend on Twitter Wednesday morning, as residents posted their addresses <https://twitter.com/justLPSY/status/902866471700877313> and conditions, saying that they had children <https://twitter.com/JayeNick_/status/902799504717512705> and older people <https://twitter.com/mackenzieshug/status/902731182760185857> in dire need of assistance.
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> About 254,000 people live in Jefferson County. At a news conference Wednesday, the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Brock Long, said that the area had been “slammed with 20 inches of rainfall,” and that the agency was continuing to monitor the situation.
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> The Bowers Civic Center, where at least 100 people had taken shelter, was flooded overnight, according to a county sheriff’s deputy, and reports said that people were being removed.
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> ABC reported that the Port Arthur-based Motiva oil refinery, the nation’s largest such facility, had started a controlled shutdown in response to the flooding.
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> A Judge in Jefferson County, Jeff Branick, told a local news reporter, Liz Teitz <https://twitter.com/LizTeitz/status/902855673981128704>, that hundreds if not thousands of people were stranded on their roofs, on top of cars and in attics.
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> “Our heart is breaking for our community,” said a Facebook post <https://www.facebook.com/jcso.beaumont/posts/1803422999672424> from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.
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> In a video broadcast from his own flooded home <https://www.facebook.com/derrickfordfreeman/videos/vb.100000174297248/1868911436457981>, where the water was about knee high on Wednesday, Mayor Freeman said that the military and Coast Guard were helping with rescue efforts. He said that 911 lines were flooded, but that the city was continuing its rescue attempts.
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> “Harvey was not playing,” he said, as he sloshed through water that had invaded rooms, closets and his backyard, his optimism mingling with clear shock at the state of his house. “I know one thing though, it’s not going to defeat us.”