Texas Port City in Dire Situation Amid Rising Harvey Floods

As the National Weather Service has issued flash flood emergencies for parts of southeast Texas due to Tropical Storm Harvey, Port Arthur residents have found themselves in survival mode as there are minimal resources to save them.

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Many residents posted pleas for help on social media, and many KFDM viewers were calling the TV station pleading to be rescued.

“My disable aunt needs help now. Neighbors can't get to her. 911 lines are tied,” Twitter user @_DamnSosa wrote in a post. 

KFDM-TV reported the situation in Port Arthur is dire as homes were expected to fill with rising floodwaters and as residents remain unsure of how to evacuate the city. 

Jefferson County Sheriff Zena Stephens told KFDM that county resources can't reach Port Arthur due to the flooding and some residents have gone into "survival mode."

"We're getting 911 and rescue calls but there's nothing we can do," Stephens said. "We can't take the boats out right now. The water is rising and it's coming there and it's no way to get to them."

Jefferson County sheriff’s deputy Marcus McLellan said the city’s 911 system has been inundated with calls, which are bouncing to other law enforcement agencies. 

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Mayor Derrick Freeman said on his Facebook page that the “city is underwater right now but we are coming!” He also urged residents to get to higher ground, but avoid becoming trapped in attics.

Freeman told KFDM some 20,000 homes had water in them, virtually all the homes in the city.

For those Port Arthur residents who had fled their homes and sought refuge at the Bob Bower Civic Center, things are not better. 

McLellan said Wednesday that the Bowers Civic Center in Port Arthur was inundated overnight due to overwhelming rainfall and a nearby overflowing canal.

Pictures posted on social media show floodwaters surrounding sleeping evacuees. Cots and belongings were abandoned on the civic center floor, which is under about 11 inches of water.

According to one evacuee, the water began entering the shelter at around 8 p.m. local time and it took just 20 minutes for water to rise high enough in the civic center to flood the floor.

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McLellan says it’s not clear where the evacuees will go. Some have been at the civic center since Monday.

Harvey initially made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane on Friday then lingered off the coast of Southeast Texas for five days as a tropical storm. 

Harvey battered Port Arthur Tuesday, dumping more than 66.04 centimeters of rain in 24 hours, an all-time daily record for rainfall, the Weather Channel said. More than 106.68 centimeters of rain has fallen on Port Arthur since Saturday. 

Michael Sinegal, who represents Port Arthur on the Jefferson County Commissioners Court, told KFDM that with so many residents in need of rescue, the city needs to get into a crisis mode. 

"We need boats. We need whatever it takes," Sinegal said.