By Hannah Stafford, News Editor
In the wake of Hurricane Harvey, volunteers and rescue officials have rushed to aid and evacuate thousands of affected Texas residents. CNN reported that there was more than 48 inches of rain, marking the most rain recorded in the contiguous United States from a tropical storm. Police Chief Art Acevedo of Houston said on Tuesday that over 3,500 people had been rescued from their homes so far, and that number has only continued to rise.
“It’s going to last four to five days,” Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner told CNN on Sunday. “This is Day One.”
Acting Homeland Security secretary Elaine Duke told FOX News during a Monday morning briefing in Washington that “we are not out of the woods yet. Harvey is still a dangerous and historic storm.”
The category four hurricane slammed the Texas coast late Friday night, impacting not only Houston but other highly-populated areas such as Corpus Christie and Rockport where the first fatality was reported on Sunday. Heavy rains continued to fall into the week, resulting a major flooding which temporarily closed one Houston airport and forced nearly 30,000 people from their homes. CNN has reported multiple minor and major injuries and ten fatalities, including the death of Sgt. Steve Perez, who died on his way to work. National Weather Service Director Louis W. Uccellini, according to TIME News called the storm a “catastrophe” worse than this area has seen in many years.
President Trump took to Twitter during the storm, offering federal support to the state and expressing sympathy and prayers to the residents.
“We will get through this,” said Trump on FOX News. “We will come out stronger. And believe me, we will be bigger, better, stronger than ever before. The rebuilding will begin and in the end, it will be something very special.”
He also praised Texas Governor Abbott for the “fantastic job” that he is doing, and the courage of Texans in the midst of Harvey.
“We see neighbor helping neighbor, friend helping friend and stranger helping stranger,” Trump said. “We are one American family. We hurt together, we struggle together and believe me, we endure together.”