>
Article snippet: As water began to recede Wednesday in some parts of flood-ravaged Houston, Harvey, now a tropical depression, shifted its wrath to the Beaumont-Port Arthur area of Texas, hitting the region with record-breaking rainfall and devastating floods. “Our whole city is underwater right now but we are coming!” Port Arthur’s mayor, Derrick Freeman, said in a Facebook message overnight, as desperate residents sent out calls for help on social media. Water filled homes and submerged roads, evacuees crowded shelters, local officials urged people who needed rescue to hang sheets or towels from windows, forecasters warned that the storm could spawn tornadoes, and the Louisiana State Police closed Interstate 10 heading toward Beaumont, just a few miles from the state line. The rain was expected to continue until Friday. In Houston, Mayor Sylvester Turner reiterated on Wednesday evening that he was pressing for the city to return to normal as quickly as possible. Several public safety officials said the city was beginning its transition from focusing on rescues to instead focusing on recovery. Vice President Mike Pence is expected to visit four locations around Corpus Christi, Tex., on Thursday, to meet with storm survivors, according to a senior administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the details of the trip were still being worked out. Here is the latest: • The storm was downgraded to a tropical depression on Wednesday night. It is expected move thr... Link to the full article to read more