Authorities still don't know full scope of damage due to poor weather

 

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - Hurricane Harvey spun deeper into Texas and unloaded extraordinary amounts of rain on Saturday after the once-fearsome hurricane crashed into vulnerable homes and businesses along the coastline in a blow that killed at least two people and injured up to 14.

 

Throughout the region between Corpus Christi and Houston, many people feared that the toll was only the beginning. Authorities did not know the full scope of damage because weather conditions prevented emergency crews from getting into the hardest-hit places. And they dreaded the destruction that was yet to come from a storm that could linger for days and unload more than 100 centimeters of rain on cities, including dangerously flood-prone Houston, the nation's fourth-largest.

 

In the island community of Port Aransas, population 3,800, officials were unable to fully survey the town because of "massive" damage. Police and heavy equipment had only made it into the northernmost street.

 

"I can tell you I have a very bad feeling and that's about it," said Mayor Charles Bujan, who had called for a mandatory evacuation but did not know how many heeded the order.

 

Some of the worst damage appeared to be in Rockport, a coastal city of about 10,000 that was directly in the storm's path. The mayor said his community took a blow "right on the nose" that left "widespread devastation", including homes, businesses and schools that were heavily damaged. Some structures were destroyed.

 

Rockport's roads were a mess of toppled power poles. A trailer blocked much of one major intersection. Wood framing from ripped-apart houses was strewn along Route 35 on the town's southern end.

 

Harvey's relentless wind tore the metal sides off the high school gym and twisted the steel door frame of its auditorium.

 

"We're still in the very infancy stage of getting this recovery started," said Aransas County spokesman Larry Sinclair.

 

Rockport Mayor Charles "C.J." Wax told The Weather Channel that the city's emergency response system had been hampered by the loss of cellphone service and other forms of communication.

 

Ominous advice

 

A day earlier, Rockport Mayor Pro Tem Patrick Rios offered ominous advice, telling people who chose not to evacuate to mark their arms with Sharpie pens, implying that the marks would make it easier for rescuers to identify them.

 

One person was killed in Aransas County when in a fire at home during the storm, county Judge C.H. "Burt" Mills Jr. said. A second person died in flooding in Harris County, where Houston is located.

 

Gary Norman, a spokesman for the Houston emergency operations center, said late on Saturday that the person was a woman who appeared to have gotten out of her vehicle in high water, though authorities had not confirmed a cause of death. She was found by neighbors about 30 meters away from her vehicle, and Norman said she was pronounced dead at the scene by a doctor who was in the area.

 

Mills also said as many as 14 people suffered minor injuries in his county, including slips and falls, scrapes and a broken leg.

 

About 300,000 customers were without power statewide. Governor Greg Abbott said it would probably be several days before electricity is restored.

 

Meanwhile, the storm was barely moving. Rainfall totals varied across the region, with Corpus Christi and Galveston receiving around 8 centimeters, Houston 18 centimeters and Aransas 25 centimeters. Tiny Austwell got 38 centimeters.

 

In Houston, authorities were pleading with people not to leave their homes as a flood emergency was declared.

 

"The streets are treacherous," Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said.