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PHOTOS: Houston Flood Caused By Harvey Sends Residents Scrambling For Safety

The National Weather Service said Sunday afternoon it expected up to 50 inches of rain in some areas of Houston.
Katie Hayes Luke for NPR
The National Weather Service said Sunday afternoon it expected up to 50 inches of rain in some areas of Houston.

The remnants of now-Tropical Storm Harvey have all but parked over south Texas and the storm is inundating the region around Houston with "unprecedented" rain, according to the National Weather Service.

Houstonians have been stranded in their homes, and some of those who were on the roads were in need of rescue as areas of Houston received as much as two feet of rain with no immediate end in sight.

Then-Hurricane Harvey made landfall late Friday evening near Corpus Christi, Texas, as a Category 4 hurricane, one of the strongest storms to make landfall in recent history.

Margy (left) and Rich Reynard live in the downtown Houston area. "Where we live, the streets are fine," says Rich. "If we get 15 more inches of rain, I don't know that it can stay that way."
/ Katie Hayes Luke for NPR
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Katie Hayes Luke for NPR
Margy (left) and Rich Reynard live in the downtown Houston area. "Where we live, the streets are fine," says Rich. "If we get 15 more inches of rain, I don't know that it can stay that way."
Neighbors with boats are using their personal boats to rescue Friendswood residents in Houston.
Steve Gonzales / Houston Chronicle
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Houston Chronicle
Neighbors with boats are using their personal boats to rescue Friendswood residents in Houston.
Mikhail Bachynsky hugs her dog Lily after they were rescued from their home on Sunday in the Friendswood area of Houston.
Steve Gonzales / Houston Chronicle
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Houston Chronicle
Mikhail Bachynsky hugs her dog Lily after they were rescued from their home on Sunday in the Friendswood area of Houston.
Two people walk down a flooded section of Interstate 610 in floodwaters from Tropical Storm Harvey on Sunday.
David J. Phillip / AP
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AP
Two people walk down a flooded section of Interstate 610 in floodwaters from Tropical Storm Harvey on Sunday.
Water bubbles up through a manhole in downtown Houston.
/ Katie Hayes Luke for NPR
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Katie Hayes Luke for NPR
Water bubbles up through a manhole in downtown Houston.
Moses Juarez, left, and Anselmo Padilla wade through floodwaters from Tropical Storm Harvey on Sunday in Houston.
David J. Phillip / AP
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AP
Moses Juarez, left, and Anselmo Padilla wade through floodwaters from Tropical Storm Harvey on Sunday in Houston.

The city's 911 services were overwhelmed with calls for service and rescues, said Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner. He said that while some people were having to wait, the system was working, and he asked people to only call 911 if they had life-threatening emergencies.

A military truck navigates along Interstate 10, which has been inundated. Harvey is expected to dump upwards of 40 inches of rain in Texas over the next couple of days.
Scott Olson / Getty Images
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Getty Images
A military truck navigates along Interstate 10, which has been inundated. Harvey is expected to dump upwards of 40 inches of rain in Texas over the next couple of days.
Reagan Giles, driving, and his friend Crusty Chuck turn around after deciding that they could not pass through a flooded street. Earlier in the day, Giles used his motorcycle to rescue Chuck from the Sunnyside neighborhood of Houston.
/ Katie Hayes Luke for NPR
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Katie Hayes Luke for NPR
Reagan Giles, driving, and his friend Crusty Chuck turn around after deciding that they could not pass through a flooded street. Earlier in the day, Giles used his motorcycle to rescue Chuck from the Sunnyside neighborhood of Houston.

"It's like a river, the water is all the way up to the embankment and you can't even see if there's any vehicles down there right now," said Gail Delaughter of Houston Public Media. "Once the water drains out, who knows what they are going to find down there."

Residents wade through floodwaters from Tropical Storm Harvey Sunday in Houston, Texas.
David J. Phillip / AP
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AP
Residents wade through floodwaters from Tropical Storm Harvey Sunday in Houston, Texas.
An abandoned Hummer is covered in floodwaters on Interstate 610 after now-Tropical Storm Harvey hit Houston.
Nick Oxford / Reuters
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Reuters
An abandoned Hummer is covered in floodwaters on Interstate 610 after now-Tropical Storm Harvey hit Houston.
Paul Lenz (center), and his children Graham, 9 (left), and Miles, 7, photograph the flooding on I-10 in Houston.
/ Katie Hayes Luke for NPR
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Katie Hayes Luke for NPR
Paul Lenz (center), and his children Graham, 9 (left), and Miles, 7, photograph the flooding on I-10 in Houston.

Turner warned residents to not be lulled by pauses in the rain. The National Weather Service said Sunday afternoon it expected up to 50 inches of rain in some areas of the region. That much rain would be the highest rainfall ever recorded in Texas, according to The Associated Press.

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

People push a disabled car during the aftermath.
Brendan Smialowski / AFP/Getty Images
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AFP/Getty Images
People push a disabled car during the aftermath.