Hurricane Harvey devastates Texas coastline
Hurricane Harvey, the worst hurricane to hit the US mainland in more than a decade, is continuing to lash the state of Texas with torrential rains, even though its winds have subsided. Damage has already been severe.
Huge amounts of rain
Hurricane Harvey, which hit the coast of the US state of Texas on Friday night as a Category 4 storm, has since weakened. But although the winds may have fallen, the floods have risen, causing widespread havoc, even inland. The full extent of the damage where the storm has already passed is only gradually becoming clear - and it is still raging elsewhere.
Not finished yet
Forecasters say that Harvey, now downgraded to tropical storm status, will linger along the shore for the next four to five days. Two people have already been reported dead as a result of the storm, and many have lost their homes, as in this mobile home park in Port Aransas. Nearly 230,000 people have been hit by power outages.
Keeping watch
Texas had plenty of warning that the hurricane, the worst in the state since 1961, was on its way. And officials at the State of Texas Emergency Command Center are keeping a watchful eye on Harvey's slow progress. But they can only do so much to prevent damage as the storm works its way along the coastline.
Taking the brunt of the storm
The city of Rockport was directly in Harvey's path as it made landfall and has suffered extreme damage, the entire extent of which has yet to be assessed. People in Rockport who did not leave the town ahead of the storm were advised by its acting mayor to write their names and social security numbers on their arms in indelible ink to make identification easier if anything happened to them.
Hotel without walls
The Fairfield Inn in Rockport was one of the buildings to suffer extreme damage in the high winds. Homes, businesses and schools were also heavily affected or even destroyed.
In distress
Shipping in the region has been severely disrupted. The US Coast Guard has rescued 20 people from boats and barges in distress. And the third-largest petrochemical port in the US in Corpus Christi was closed with extensive damage.
A strong president needed
US President Donald Trump is now facing the first major emergency management test of his administration. And he will be aware of the damage done to George W. Bush's presidency by Bush's slow response to Hurricane Katrina in August 2005. The White House said Trump had met with his Cabinet and senior administration officials to discuss the federal response to the disaster.