Before-and-after images show the catastrophic flooding in Houston

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Tropical storm Harvey has dumped over 2 feet of rain on Houston, Texas, and 2 more feet are expected.

The forecast suggests Houston will get 50 inches of rain — as much as the city of 2.3 million usually receives in an entire year.

The deluge has turned the city’s roads into rivers, covered in feet of water:

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Interstate highway 45 is submerged from the effects of Hurricane Harvey seen during widespread flooding in Houston, Texas on August 27, 2017.REUTERS/Richard Carson
Here’s what Houston looked like before and after Hurricane Harvey:

Since the storm’s landfall on Friday, Houston has received over 25 inches of rain, with some areas seeing over 30 inches.


The National Hurricane Center projects Houston will get 50 inches of rain total, causing «catastrophic and life-threatening flooding.»

It was still raining Monday morning, and the deluge isn’t expected to stop until at least Tuesday. FEMA Administrator Brock Long said officials are still focusing on rescue and recovery, and will have to wait until the storm passes to fully evaluate the damage.

«I’m not sure where the water is going because it’s just so much that we can’t really absorb more in the ground at this point. … We have way too much water and not enough places for it to drain,» Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said on Monday.

Houston didn’t declare mandatory evacuations, and encouraged residents to stay put unless they were in immediate danger. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner has defended that decision, since it’s often more dangerous to evacuate a city during hurricanes.

Turner said on Sunday that almost 6,000 people called emergency services asking to be rescued. Police and firefighters had saved over 1,000 individuals, plucking many from rooftops using aircraft, dump trucks, and boats.

Rushing water underground caused sinkholes to swallow roads, like this one on Highway FM 762 in Rosenberg, Texas.
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Forecasters predict Harvey will go back out over the Gulf, pick up more moisture, then make its way back across eastern Texas and up to Louisiana, wreaking havoc for the rest of the week. On Monday morning, the storm is only half over.

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