Houston Rescuers Inundated — More Boats Needed

Contact number for Houstonians in need of Coast Guard Helicopter Rescue
Video Screenshot/KPRC NBC2
Lana Shadwick
Houston, TX

HOUSTON, Texas — Search and rescue teams and the 911 system has been inundated with people needing to be rescued in Houston. Now the Harris County judge is reported to say that boats and high-water vehicles are desperately needed and that additional rescue assets cannot get into Houston.

Harris County Judge Ed Emmett Tweeted:

The nation’s fourth most populated city and the greater metropolitan area has been hit by historic torrential rain, flooding, and tornadoes from the fall-out from Hurricane Harvey. Emergency crews have been rescuing people from their flooded homes and cars as the state and other authorities were getting more emergency responders.

Houston and Harris County emergency management officials pre-positioned boats, trucks and other resources in advance of the torrential rains that hit the county on Saturday evening. “They simply ran out of boats,” KPRC NBC2 news anchors stated in a broadcast appeal for more boats and rescue equipment.

Those in peril have been rescued by boat, U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) chopper, school bus, and even a National Guard truck, and a dump truck, KHOU 11 Houston’s Jason Miles reported.

Miles also reported that he had been told that a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter saved a 90-year-old woman.

The Texas Game Wardens of the Law Enforcement Division of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department were getting crews and boats together.

Now Harris County Judge Ed Emmett has been reported by the managing editor of the Houston Chronicle to say that additional rescue resources cannot get into Houston.

Here is a video by CBS on Sunday morning with a report that the USCG had received as of that time “more than 300 requests for urban search and rescue in the Houston area.”

Breitbart Texas reported that the Houston area has been hit with an “unprecedented rain event.” Harris County Judge Ed Emmett told Breitbart Texas, “Because this is a rain event, we don’t know where or when particular areas will flood.” “Right now, our focus is on southeast Harris County. That is where we are moving our resources.”

“We have 4.7 million people spread over 1,800 square miles,” he said. “It would be impossible to know where or who to evacuate in advance. We have to be reactive.”

Ben Taub Hospital in the Houston Medical Center is now being evacuated because of flooding.

The Coast Guard has asked those in Houston and the greater Houston area – “Do not call for rescue if you are not in a life-threatening situation. Rescue teams are prioritizing rescues by urgency.”  They add, “If you are in need of rescue, call 911 or the U.S. Coast Guard Houston Command Center at 281-464-4851.”

The USCG also warns people not to go into the attic because “rescuers from the air cannot see you.”  “Mark the roof to be seen from the air. Wave sheets, towels, to be noticed from the air.”

Follow complete coverage of Hurricane Harvey and Houston Floods on Breitbart Texas.

Lana Shadwick is a writer and legal analyst for Breitbart Texas. She has served as a prosecutor and associate judge in Texas. Follow her on GAB @lanashadwick and on Twitter @LanaShadwick2.

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