Tropical Storm Harvey brings historic floods to US city

As many as five people are reported dead as Tropical Storm Harvey continued to hammer the Texas coast Sunday, with the city of Houston expecting days of flooding of historic proportions.

More than 1,000 residents were rescued from flash floods overnight in Houston, the National Weather Service reported.

The city’s police chief Art Acevedo confirmed one of the deaths late Saturday -- the second confirmed fatality from Harvey.

The torrential rains in Houston caused damage to buildings and power outages affecting thousands, social media images showed.

One video on Twitter showed a car almost completely submerged under an elevated highway.

Harvey made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane Friday night, leaving destruction in its wake with its powerful 130-mile per hour (210 kilometer per hour) winds.

It was downgraded to a tropical storm Saturday afternoon but the National Hurricane Center warned the storm would cause a “multiday rainfall disaster” estimated to remain effective for five to six days.

Houston said early Sunday that emergency resources had been deployed to the maximum. “911 services at capacity. If u can shelter in place do so, a few inches in your home is not imminent danger. Only call if in imminent danger,” it tweeted.

Authorities announced the suspension of railroad services in the city, while flight cancellations stretching into Monday soared to 3,000 as Hobby Airport tweeted there was flooding in the inbound and outbound lanes.

President Donald Trump wrote on Twitter Sunday experts were “calling Harvey a once in a 500 year flood!

“We have an all out effort going, and going well!” he said.

The president added that he would be going to Texas as soon as he can travel without causing disruption to emergency efforts.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott told ABC News the from the story was “one of the worst, if not the worst that Houston has suffered.

“We could not be more appreciative of what the federal government has done, from the president on down,” the Republican governor said. His request for a disaster designation to receive federal assistance was granted Friday.