Houston

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Trump Sides With Democrats on Harvey Relief, Debt Ceiling

President overrules lawmakers from the GOP

(Newser) - President Trump overruled congressional Republicans and his own treasury secretary Wednesday and cut a deal with Democrats to fund the government and raise the federal borrowing limit for three months, all part of an agreement to speed money to Harvey relief. In the course of a relatively brief negotiating session...

Controlled Burn Carried Out at Texas Chemical Plant

All fires at flooded plant now out, authorities say

(Newser) - Authorities carried out a controlled burn Sunday at a chemical plant damaged by Harvey , sending small flames and gray smoke into the sky, after saying the highly unstable compounds that had caused previous explosions needed to be neutralized. Small flames burning in charred structures were seen, with a limited amount...

Battered Houston Donates $20K to Give Weather Guy a Break

GoFundMe page to send Jeff Lindner on vacation smashes its modest $4K goal

(Newser) - There amid the flooding, the loss, and the devastation of Hurricane Harvey was Houston meteorologist Jeff Lindner, working nonstop to give residents the latest on the storm. And rather than the more typical and cliched complaining about the weather man, a grateful populace decided to chip in to give Lindner...

Report: Houston Superfund Sites Are Under Water

EPA confirms 13 of 41 'experiencing possible damage' due to Harvey

(Newser) - The flooding of Superfund sites in and around Houston caused by Harvey has raised concerns about whether floodwaters had also washed in pollution from the sites, reports the AP , which visited several highly toxic waste sites in and around Houston. All had been inundated with water, in some cases many...

Trump Makes His Initial Harvey Relief Request

He's seeking an initial $7.9B down payment

(Newser) - President Trump has sent lawmakers an initial request for a $7.9 billion down payment toward Harvey relief and recovery efforts. The request, expected to be swiftly approved by Congress, would add $7.4 billion to rapidly dwindling Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster aid coffers and $450 million to finance...

Tyler Perry Gives Houston $1M, With Some of It for Joel Osteen

A quarter of the money goes to Osteen's church

(Newser) - Tyler Perry is donating $1 million to relief efforts in Texas following Hurricane Harvey, and a full 25% of that amount is going to Joel Osteen's Houston megachurch. Perry announced the donations in a video on Facebook , People reports, and he insisted that though people were upset when the...

Bodies Are Piling Up at the Houston Morgue

Officials have asked state for extra storage capacity

(Newser) - Bodies are piling up at the Houston morgue because of Harvey: Not only did the storm lead to more than 30 deaths, but the flooding has also prevented funeral homes from collecting the corpses of those who died from other causes. The morgue in the fourth-largest city in the US...

Harvey's Environmental Effects Are 'Terrifying'

Toxins are leaching into floodwaters and spewing into the air

(Newser) - "This is going to be a travesty. The contamination could be going anywhere," says a Houston-area resident who lives a block away from an old wood-treating facility flooded by Hurricane Harvey. The New York Times reports the facility is one of two dozen Superfund sites potentially leaking lead,...

Houston Kids Will Eat 3 Free Meals Daily for Rest of Year

And other stories of financial kindness

(Newser) - Some 218,000 Houston schoolkids won't have to worry about where breakfast, lunch, or dinner is coming from for the remainder of the school year. The Houston Independent School District on Wednesday announced that it got the green light from the USDA and the Texas Department of Agriculture to...

Grieving Houston Mom Warns of Danger Lurking in Water

Her son was electrocuted wading through floodwaters to rescue his sister's cat

(Newser) - The family of a former Eagle Scout is mourning his Tuesday death in Houston and warning others of an often-unseen danger in the floodwaters spurred by Harvey . Andrew Pasek, said to be in his mid-20s, was electrocuted in the Bear Creek subdivision after he and a friend braved water-filled streets...

2 Explosions Heard at Flooded Texas Chemical Plant

Harvey's death toll now at least 37

(Newser) - Arkema CEO Rich Rowe said Wednesday night that an explosion at his company's flooded Houston-area chemical plant was inevitable—and he was proved right within hours. The Harris County Emergency Operations Center said early Thursday that there had been two explosions and black smoke was coming from the Crosby...

CEO: Explosion Inevitable at Flooded Texas Chemical Plant

Blast will be 'intense,' CEO warns

(Newser) - An explosion and fire is going to happen at a swamped Texas chemical plant and there's not much anybody can do about it, Arkema CEO Rich Rowe says. The plant in Crosby, around 25 miles northeast of Houston, has lost power after being flooded with around 6 feet of...

There&#39;s Another Disaster Looming for Harvey Victims
There's Another Disaster
Looming for Harvey Victims
The rundown
Aug 30, 2017 1:08 PM CDT

There's Another Disaster Looming for Harvey Victims

Only 2 in 10 in the worst areas have flood insurance

(Newser) - The math isn't pretty: An official in Harris County, Texas, estimated Wednesday that Harvey has destroyed up to 40,000 homes in the Houston area, reports ABC News . Countless others have lesser damage. Now balance those figures with another: Only 2 in 10 homeowners in the hardest-hit areas have...

Relatives: 4 Volunteer Rescuers in Houston Have Vanished

3 others were reportedly found hanging in trees with electrocution burns

(Newser) - More apparent bad news as the Houston area continues to battle the devastating effects of Harvey . The Houston Chronicle reports that four men who'd gone out in a group of seven on Monday to try to rescue neighbors in a northeastern part of the city have gone missing after...

Houston Cop Drowned After Wife Warned Him Not to Go to Work

Hurricane Harvey death tolls stands at at least 18

(Newser) - The death toll attributed to Hurricane Harvey now stands at at least 18 , and a Houston cop numbers among the dead. Steve Perez, a 34-year veteran of the department, drowned Sunday while attempting to drive to work in his patrol car, Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo confirmed Tuesday. Perez's...

Joel Osteen's Megachurch Eventually Opens as Shelter

Announcement comes after major social media backlash

(Newser) - Joel Osteen opened his Houston megachurch to those seeking shelter from floodwaters Tuesday after social media critics slammed the televangelist for not offering to house people in need while Harvey swamps the city, the AP reports. Lakewood Church—a 16,000-seat former arena that was the longtime home of the...

Harvey Causes Levee Breach, Overflows Dam Near Houston
Texas Officials After Levee
Breach: 'GET OUT NOW!!'
The Rundown
Aug 29, 2017 2:53 PM CDT

Texas Officials After Levee Breach: 'GET OUT NOW!!'

Harvey also overflows dam near Houston

(Newser) - Texas Gov. Greg Abbott calls it "one of the largest disasters America has ever faced," the New York Times reports. And the numbers back him up. According to USA Today , a National Weather Service gauge outside Houston measured 49.32 inches of rain—the most ever from a...

Houston's Local Hero After Harvey: 'Mattress Mack'

Jim McIngvale has opened up 2 of his furniture warehouses for shelter, meals

(Newser) - Meals and comfortable places to lounge and sleep are among the most coveted amenities when holed up in a shelter after a natural disaster—but a Houston businessman has that covered in the wake of Hurricane Harvey. While Joel Osteen's megachurch is taking heat for delayed efforts to house...

So Why Didn&#39;t Houston Evacuate?
So Why Didn't
Houston Evacuate?
the rundown
Aug 28, 2017 12:24 PM CDT

So Why Didn't Houston Evacuate?

Memories of mass chaos in Hurricane Rita's exodus were a factor

(Newser) - With flooding in the Houston area not expected to abate until at least Wednesday, municipalities in the area have begun issuing their first evacuation orders . Meanwhile, police continue nearly nonstop rescues of stranded residents, shelters are filling up, and many highways are impassable. All of which has some people asking:...

2 Big Factors Made Harvey So Potent
2 Big Factors Made
Harvey So Potent
Aug 28, 2017 9:19 AM CDT

2 Big Factors Made Harvey So Potent

Unusually warm water in the Gulf and no wind to push the storm away

(Newser) - Meteorologists seem to be running out of adjectives to describe the devastation of Harvey , with phrases such as "beyond anything experienced" and "1-in-1,000 year event" being thrown around. But why is Harvey so bad? The New York Times explains that it involves an unusual combination of factors,...

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