(CNN) With countless Houstonians still awaiting rescue, Tropical Depression Harvey devoured another Texas city. 
 
 The unrelenting storm unleashed its wrath on a wide swath east of Houston, leaving thousands stranded in flooded homes and forcing the evacuation of a nursing facility and even an emergency shelter where residents had sought refuge. 
 
 "Our whole city is underwater right now but we are coming!" Port Arthur Mayor Derrick Freeman posted Wednesday on Facebook. "If you called, we are coming. Please get to higher ground if you can, but please try (to) stay out of attics." 
 
 My uncles have been rescuing people in Port Arthur for 24hrs! So blessed to have such a helpful family who help others in times like this! pic.twitter.com/O2qIVGHqxR 
 
 At least 37 deaths related to Hurricane Harvey and its aftermath have been reported in Texas. One of them, Houston police Sgt. Steve Perez , drowned while trying to get to work. 
 
 "To those Americans who have lost loved ones, all of America is grieving with you and our hearts are joined with yours forever," President Donald Trump said in Springfield, Missouri. 
 
 The storm left record-setting rain in Harris County -- which saw 19 deaths -- before unleashing 15 inches in the Beaumont area, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said. 
 
 "While there may still be flooding, the good news is there shouldn't be any rain in the region for the next several days," said CNN Meteorologist Taylor Ward. 
 
 Evacuees at the Bob Bowers Civic Center in Port Arthur face flooding again as waters rise at the shelter. 
 
 Misery in Houston 
 
 While heavy rains have ended in the Houston area, more danger looms. 
 
 Emergency workers and throngs of volunteers went door to door for a fifth day Wednesday, trying to rescue victims of the flood. Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said authorities have received 60,000 to 70,000 calls for help. 
 
 "We just pray that the body count ... won't rise significantly." Acevedo said. 
 
 The US Coast Guard is searching for two civilian rescuers who were swept away after their boat capsized Tuesday night, the Harris County Sheriff's Office tweeted Wednesday. 
 
 Three volunteers were trying to cross Cypress Creek when their boat crashed and capsized, sending all three under a bridge. One of the volunteers was found clinging to a tree. 
 
 JUST WATCHED Torrential downpour submerges parts of Houston Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Torrential downpour submerges parts of Houston 01:06 
 
 About one-third of the Houston area is covered in water. And it's unclear exactly how many people still need to be rescued, Texas Military Department spokesman Lt. Col. Travis Walters said. 
 
 For the first time since the weekend, authorities said, the flooding in Houston is slowly receding in some areas. 
 
 The Houston Astros announced they will play a doubleheader at home on Saturday against the New York Mets. The team played the Texas Rangers in St. Petersburg, Florida, earlier this week because of the hurricane. 
 
 Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said the home game will provide "a much needed boost for our city" and offer residents "some aspect of normal life." 
 
 But dangerous flooding will continue from Houston all the way into southwestern Louisiana for the rest of the week, the National Weather Service said. 
 
 Houses built 'inside a lake' could degrade 
 
 Controversy has surrounded the placement of houses near Houston's Barker and Addicks reservoirs, especially since floodwater overflowed the latter. 
 
 Residents evacuate their homes Tuesday near the Addicks Reservoir in Houston. 
 
 "They allowed them to build homes inside the reservoir. And these homes are flooded -- 2,500 homes are flooded, some of them up to 5 feet deep," CNN meteorologist Chad Myers said Wednesday. "They built homes inside a lake." 
 
 And those homes "will be inundated for several weeks," said Jeff Lindner with Harris County Flood Control. 
 
 "The closest comparison that I can draw to those homes ... is Hurricane Katrina," Lindner said. 
 
 "When water sits in a house for several weeks, the house begins to degrade." 
 
 Lindner said those residents will be able to return after several weeks, but "we are not sure what the condition of those homes are going to be." 
 
 He also said it's unclear whether rebuilding homes in the same area will be allowed. 
 
 Louisiana weathers Harvey, Texas 'taking it on the chin' 
 
 Louisiana was largely spared from Harvey's wrath on Wednesday. 
 
 "While things are still serious and there is a long way to go, we ... have fared much better than we'd feared might be the case, but our neighbors are still taking it on the chin," Gov. John Bel Edwards said. "In Texas, we're going to do everything we can do to be good neighbors to them." 
 
 Edwards requested a federal disaster declaration be extended to seven additional Louisiana parishes. 
 
 Harvey is still threatening to dump an additional 3 to 6 inches of rain from northern Louisiana into western Kentucky, forecasters said. It weakened over land and fizzled to a tropical depression Wednesday night, with winds of 35 mph. 
 
 New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu said volunteers helped New Orleans recover after Katrina and they will do the same for Texas residents affected by Harvey. 
 
 New Orleans officials announced a fundraiser to help the residents of Houston and other flooded Texas cities recover from Harvey. 
 
 "No city was more welcoming for the citizens of New Orleans than the people of Houston," Landrieu said. "And our heart breaks for them as they go through their trying to times." 
 
 More rescues, mother dies 
 
 In Beaumont, rescuers Tuesday afternoon came upon a toddler in a pink backpack clinging to her mother's body in floodwaters about a half mile from their car. The mother was getting out of her car when she stepped into a canal, Mayor Becky Ames said. 
 
 The girl was in stable condition with hypothermia. 
 
 "Had we been a few moments later, they would have been swept underneath (a trestle) and our boats wouldn't have been able to get them," Haley Morrow, spokeswoman for the Beaumont Emergency Management Office, told CNN on Wednesday. 
 
 "A true testament of a mother who put her own life at risk and sacrificed her life to save her child. That was devastating." 
 
 In Port Arthur, about 90 miles east of the devastated Houston area, the deluge was so severe that floodwaters overwhelmed the Bob Bowers Civic Center, which was serving as a shelter. It was evacuated Wednesday after taking on water overnight, according to volunteer Ana Platero. 
 
 Cots where people slept the night before floated on 2 feet of water on Wednesday as people waited on tables or sat on elevated bleachers to be evacuated to a nearby middle school. 
 
 At Lake Arthur Place, a nursing home in Port Arthur, rescue workers evacuated up to 74 bedridden patients after an altercation involving relatives who tried to take out loved ones on their own, CNN affiliate KTRK reported. 
 
 All residents were taken to local hospitals in Beaumont, the nursing home operator said. 
 
 Some Port Arthur residents sought shelter in a bowling alley. 
 
 Cynthia Harmon told CNN by phone that she was trapped with her two sons and two grandsons in the attic of her Port Arthur home. They began waiting for rescuers at midnight Tuesday and had run out of food and water by Wednesday afternoon. 
 
 "I didn't think the water was going to rise like that," she said. "I've never been in anything like this." 
 
 The family was rescued later on Wednesday. 
 
 Police made an appeal for volunteers to bring boats and help. 
 
 "Rescue boats welcome in Port Arthur to assist emergency personnel," the police department posted on Facebook. The city asked anyone trapped to hang a white towel, sheet or shirt outside to alert rescuers. 
 
 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas Downtown Houston is reflected in the flooded Buffalo Bayou on Wednesday, August 30, five days after Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Texas. The Category 4 storm came ashore late Friday, August 25, just north of Port Aransas, and has caused historic flooding. Correction: Previous versions of this gallery incorrectly reported that Hurricane Harvey is the strongest storm to make landfall in the United States since Wilma in 2005. Harvey is actually the strongest storm to make landfall in the United States since Charley in 2004. Hide Caption 1 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas Members of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the Louisiana National Guard help rescue elderly people from a flooded assisted living home in Orange, Texas, on August 30. Hide Caption 2 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas A baby sits with family belongings at a Gallery Furniture store in Houston being used as a temporary shelter on August 30. Hide Caption 3 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas Floodwaters engulf homes in Port Arthur on August 30. Hide Caption 4 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas Janice Forse cries at an emergency shelter in Beaumont on August 30. Her home in Beaumont was flooded Wednesday morning. "Even Katrina wasn't this bad," Forse told the Austin American-Statesman. Hide Caption 5 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas Tammy Dominguez, left, and her husband, Christopher Dominguez, sleep on cots at the George R. Brown Convention Center, where nearly 10,000 people are taking shelter in Houston, on August 30. Hide Caption 6 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas A cat tries to find dry ground around a flooded apartment complex on August 30 in Houston. Hide Caption 7 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas Volunteer rescue workers help a woman from her flooded home in Port Arthur on August 30. Hide Caption 8 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas The Florida Air Force Reserve Pararescue team from the 308th Rescue Squadron helps evacuees board a helicopter in Port Arthur on August 30. Hide Caption 9 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas Water from the Addicks Reservoir flows into neighborhoods in Houston as floodwaters rise Tuesday, August 29. Hide Caption 10 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas Chris Gutierrez, second from right, helps his grandmother, Edelmira Gutierrez, down the stairs of their flooded house and into a waiting firetruck in the Concord Bridge neighborhood of Houston on August 29. Hide Caption 11 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas Members of the National Guard rest at a furniture store in Richmond, Texas, on August 29. Hide Caption 12 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas Alexis Hernandez holds her daughter Faith at the George R. Brown Convention Center, which is serving as a shelter in Houston. Hide Caption 13 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas Evacuees make their way though floodwaters in Houston on August 29. Hide Caption 14 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas President Donald Trump takes part in a briefing on Harvey as he visits Corpus Christi on August 29. In a stop in Austin, Trump spoke of the long-term effort and stiff costs that will be needed to rebuild the region. "Nobody's seen this kind of water," he said. "Probably, there's never been something so expensive in our country's history." While talking about recovery and relief efforts, Trump said, "We want to do it better than ever before." Hide Caption 15 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas Civilian rescuers put a boat into a flooded road to search for people in Cypress on August 29. Hide Caption 16 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas Volunteers organize items donated for Hurricane Harvey victims in Dallas on August 29. Hide Caption 17 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas An overview of downtown Houston on August 29 shows the scale of the catastrophic flooding. Hide Caption 18 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas Matthew Koser searches for important papers and heirlooms inside his grandfather's house in Houston's Bear Creek neighborhood on August 29. The neighborhood flooded after water was released from nearby Addicks Reservoir. Hide Caption 19 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas Shane Johnson removes items from a family home in Rockport, Texas, on August 29. Hide Caption 20 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas Airplanes sit at a flooded airport in Houston on August 29. Hide Caption 21 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas People set up a shelter for volunteer rescue workers at Fairfield Baptist Church in Cypress, Texas, on August 29. Hide Caption 22 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas Shardea Harrison looks at her 3-week-old baby, Sarai, as Dean Mize, right, and Jason Legnon use an airboat to rescue them from their home in Houston on Monday, August 28. Hide Caption 23 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas Thousands take shelter at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston on August 28. Hide Caption 24 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas Rescue boats fill Tidwell Road in Houston as they help flood victims evacuate the area on August 28. Hide Caption 25 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas People wait to be rescued from their flooded home in Houston on August 28. Hide Caption 26 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas A firefighter helps Sara Golden and her daughters Paisley, Poppy and Piper board a Texas Air National Guard C-130 at Scholes International Airport in Galveston, Texas, on August 28. Hide Caption 27 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas People make their way out of a flooded neighborhood in Houston on August 28. Hide Caption 28 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas Sam Speights removes possessions from his damaged home in Rockport on August 28. Hide Caption 29 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas Flood victims wait to unload from the back of a heavy-duty truck after being evacuated from their homes in Houston on August 28. Hide Caption 30 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas People leave a flooded area of Houston on August 28. Hide Caption 31 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas People are rescued in Houston on August 28. Hide Caption 32 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas Bridget Brundrett presents an American flag to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott while he was in Rockport on August 28. The flag had been recovered from city hall after flying during the hurricane. Hide Caption 33 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas A Coast Guard helicopter hoists a wheelchair on board after lifting a person to safety from a flooded area of Houston on August 28. Hide Caption 34 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas Houston flood victims eat and rest at the George R. Brown Convention Center on August 28. Hide Caption 35 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas Belinda Penn holds her dogs Winston and Baxter after being rescued from their home in Spring, Texas, on August 28. Hide Caption 36 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas A firefighter is wheeled to a waiting ambulance after he became fatigued while fighting an office-building fire in downtown Houston on August 28. Hide Caption 37 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas People evacuate a neighborhood in west Houston on August 28. Hide Caption 38 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas Julie Martinez, right, hugs her daughter, Gabrielle Jackson, in front of a relative's damaged apartment in Rockport on August 28. Hide Caption 39 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas Cattle are stranded in a flooded pasture in La Grange, Texas, on August 28. Hide Caption 40 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas Volunteer rescue boats make their way into a flooded subdivision in Spring, Texas, on August 28. Hide Caption 41 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas Houston police officer Daryl Hudeck carries Catherine Pham and her 13-month-old son, Aiden, after rescuing them from floodwaters on Sunday, August 27. Hide Caption 42 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas People push a stalled pickup through a flooded street in Houston on August 27. Hide Caption 43 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas Residents of Rockport return to their destroyed home on August 27. Hide Caption 44 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas The Buffalo Bayou floods parts of Houston on August 27. Hide Caption 45 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas Two men try to beat the current that was pushing them down an overflowing Brays Bayou in Houston on August 27. Hide Caption 46 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas Jane Rhodes is rescued by neighbors in Friendswood, Texas, on August 27. Hide Caption 47 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas Volunteers at Sacred Heart Catholic Church prepare cots for evacuees in Elgin, Texas, on August 27. Hide Caption 48 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas Damage to a home is seen in the Key Allegro neighborhood of Rockport on August 27. Hide Caption 49 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas Melani Zurawski cries while inspecting her home in Port Aransas on August 27. Hide Caption 50 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas Wilford Martinez, right, is rescued from his flooded car along Interstate 610 in Houston on August 27. Assisting him here is Richard Wagner of the Harris County Sheriff's Department. Hide Caption 51 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas A car is submerged by floodwaters on a freeway near downtown Houston on August 27. Hide Caption 52 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas A resident of the Bayou on the Bend apartment complex watches its first floor flood in Houston on August 27. Hide Caption 53 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas A city flag, tattered by the effects of Hurricane Harvey, flaps in the wind over the police station in Rockport on August 27. Hide Caption 54 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas Fort Bend County Sheriff Troy Nehls and Lucas Wu lift Ethan Wu into an airboat as they evacuate the Orchard Lakes subdivision in Fort Bend County, Texas, on August 27. Hide Caption 55 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas Damage is seen at a boat storage building in Rockport on August 27. Hide Caption 56 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas Water rushes from a large sinkhole along a highway in Rosenberg, Texas, on August 27. Hide Caption 57 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas Evacuees wade through a flooded section of Interstate 610 in Houston on August 27. Hide Caption 58 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas Evacuees are loaded onto a truck on an Interstate 610 overpass in Houston on August 27. Hide Caption 59 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas A graveyard is flooded in Pearland, Texas, on August 27. Hide Caption 60 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas A driver works his way through a maze of fallen utility poles in Taft, Texas, on Saturday, August 26. Hide Caption 61 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas Steve Culver comforts his dog Otis on August 26 as he talks about what he said was the "most terrifying event in his life." Hurricane Harvey destroyed most of his home in Rockport while he and his wife were there. Hide Caption 62 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas People walk through flooded streets in Galveston on August 26. Hide Caption 63 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas Aaron Tobias stands in what is left of his Rockport home on August 26. Tobias said he was able to get his wife and kids out before the storm arrived, but he stayed there and rode it out. Hide Caption 64 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas Brad Matheney offers help to a man in a wheelchair in Galveston on August 26. Hide Caption 65 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas Jessica Campbell hugs Jonathan Fitzgerald after riding out Hurricane Harvey in an apartment in Rockport. Hide Caption 66 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas Boats are damaged in Rockport on August 26. Hide Caption 67 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas A damaged home in Rockport on August 26. Hide Caption 68 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas Donna Raney makes her way out of the wreckage of her home as Daisy Graham assists her in Rockport on August 26. Raney was hiding in the shower after the roof blew off and the walls of her home caved in. Hide Caption 69 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas A laundromat's machines are exposed to the elements in Rockport on August 26. Hide Caption 70 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas A semi-truck is overturned on a highway south of Houston on August 26. Hide Caption 71 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas An American flag flies in front of a damaged mobile-home park in Rockport on August 26. Hide Caption 72 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas NASA astronaut Jack Fischer photographed Hurricane Harvey from the International Space Station on Friday, August 25. Hide Caption 73 of 74 Photos: Hurricane Harvey slams Texas Waves pound the shore as Harvey approaches Corpus Christi, Texas, on August 25. Hide Caption 74 of 74 
 
 The disaster in Port Arthur is part of Tropical Storm Harvey's devastating encore. Harvey made landfall once again Wednesday morning, slamming into the Louisiana coast near the Texas border. 
 
 26 inches in 24 hours 
 
 Harvey has broken the US record for rainfall from a single storm, CNN senior meteorologist Dave Hennen said. It has dumped almost 52 inches of rain in parts of Texas. 
 
 The coastal cities of Beaumont and Port Arthur got pummeled with 26 inches of rain in 24 hours. 
 
 "Life-threatening flash flooding continues in far east Texas around Beaumont and Port Arthur," Hennen said. 
 
 Port Arthur, a city of about 55,000, is in exceptional danger because water from Beaumont is expected to flow toward it. 
 
 In Beaumont, a man who accidentally drove a truck into a flooded ravine that looked like a street was rescued by CNN correspondent Drew Griffin, producer Brian Rokus and photographer Scott Pisczek on Wednesday. "I want to thank these guys for saving my life," said the driver, Jerry Sumrall. 
 
 In Woodville, a town north of Beaumont, US Rep. Brian Babin was trapped for part of Wednesday at home with members of his family after a creek overflowed. 
 
 "I'm in my home in Tyler County, and we could not get out unless a helicopter plucks me out or I get my boat and launch it," the Texas Republican told CNN by phone early in the day. "We're fine. These waters are going to recede hopefully sometime this evening." 
 
 On Wednesday afternoon, a US Navy helicopter plucked seven people from floodwaters. 
 
 'We help each other out' 
 
 Strangers from across the country descended on Texas and braved treacherous floodwater to evacuate victims. 
 
 JUST WATCHED CNN crew helps rescue man from truck Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH CNN crew helps rescue man from truck 02:05 
 
 Tom Dickers is among those who came hauling boats from Dallas and San Antonio. 
 
 "This is what Texans would do. We help each other out," Dickers said. 
 
 At least 9,000 to 10,000 people have been rescued in the Houston region by first responders. Volunteers said they have helped as many as 400 in one day. 
 
 Some would just "come crying, just wanting help," volunteer Bobba Bedri said. "I just felt like I had to get more people out, keep going and keep going." 
 
 CLARIFICATION: Harvey made its first landfall at 10 p.m. local time Friday, initially striking a barrier island near Port Aransas, Texas, before moving onto the US mainland two hours later near Copano Bay, Texas. After re-emerging into the Gulf of Mexico on Monday, it made another landfall Wednesday in Louisiana. ||||| Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. 
 
 / Updated By Kalhan Rosenblatt 
 
 As another death was blamed on Hurricane Harvey on Monday, Texas officials defended their decision not to order a mandatory evacuation for millions of Houston-area residents. 
 
 A 60-year-old woman in east Montgomery County, north of Houston, died when a tree fell on her while she slept, the sheriff's office said, raising the confirmed number of deaths to three as historic flooding and unrelenting rains continued to cripple the region. 
 
 Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said at a news conference Monday that he had activated the entire 12,000-member Texas National Guard to help respond to recovery efforts in the disaster, which is potentially affecting more than 50 counties. 
 
 The "biggest challenge, first, is making sure we get everyone to a safe place," Abbott told reporters before touring the coastal community of Rockport, where Harvey made landfall as a powerful Category 4 hurricane Friday. 
 
 Mandatory evacuations were ordered for several counties along Texas' Gulf coast just hours before the hurricane made landfall. 
 
 But further inland, in cities like Houston, which is in Harris County, evacuation orders were never given. This is because of the uncertainty of the storm and the narrow window given to move millions of people, Harris County Judge Ed Emmett said on NBC's TODAY. 
 
 Emmett, the chief executive officer of Harris County, coordinates four county commissioners while overseeing local government actions. 
 
 Related: Life-Threatening Rain Hammers Houston 
 
 "When a hurricane comes, you know to get people out of harm's way, you know where the storm surge is going to hit. So we have a very defined process for moving people out of storm surge," Emmett said. 
 
 "With a rain event over a county of 4½ million people, you don't know exactly where the rain is going to fall, you don't know which neighborhoods are going to flood, so if we had gone out three days before and said we want 4 million people to leave Harris County, that would have been a totally nonsensical thing to do." 
 
 Related: 'Cajun Navy' Rushes to Rescue Strangers From Harvey 
 
 But that sentiment wasn't fully echoed by Abbott, who said at a news conference Friday, as the storm was bearing down, that residents needed to listen to their instincts, even if no official had given an order to evacuate. 
 
 A Texas National Guardsman carries a woman from her flooded home in Houston on Sunday following Hurricane Harvey. Lt. Zachary West / Army National Guard via Getty Images 
 
 "Even if an evacuation order hasn't been issued by your local official, if you're in an area between Corpus Christi and Houston, you need to strongly consider evacuating. What you don't know, and what nobody else knows right now, is the magnitude of flooding that will be coming," Abbott said Friday. 
 
 Abbott warned that if residents didn't leave, they could be putting themselves in harm's way. Voluntary evacuation orders have since been issued for small parts of the greater Houston area. 
 
 About 20 inches of rain fell on parts of Houston, causing widespread flooding, and more than 2,000 rescues have been performed. Helicopters landed on highways to get people out of the affected areas, while good Samaritans used kayaks and canoes to free people from the flooding. 
 
 But Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner stood by his decision not to order the evacuation, saying it was impossible to put millions of people on the road. 
 
 Turner said at a news conference on Sunday that he had no regrets about telling people to stay put. 
 
 "One, if you can recall, there was a lot of conversation about the direction in which Hurricane Harvey was going to go," Turner said. "No one knew which direction it was going to go. So it's kind of difficult to send people away from danger when you don't know where the danger is. Number two, that kind of evacuation in a couple days — the logistics would have been crazy." 
 
 Emmett agreed with Turner's decision, saying it would have been foolish to send people away when the storm's path was unclear. 
 
 "We didn't know where it was going to flood. We didn't know what neighborhoods were going to flood, and the truth is, if we had told people to do that, they probably would have either laughed at us or ignored it," Emmett said. 
 
 Related: Everything You Need to Know About Hurricane Harvey 
 
 Turner's decision not to issue a sweeping evacuation of Houston was partly based on the chaos caused by a mandatory evacuation that was ordered in 2005 as Category 5 Hurricane Rita barreled toward Texas. 
 
 "Chaotic 2005 traffic with Hurricane Rita lurking was tragic. No official has issued evac order for Houston now. Calm and care! #Harvey," Turner tweeted on Friday. 
 
 As 2.5 million Houstonians fled, gridlock lasting nearly 24 hours trapped residents on highways and roads. The evacuation killed nearly as many people as the storm itself, which caused an estimated $12 billion in damage, according to The Houston Chronicle. Rita killed 120 people, according to HurricaneScience.org, an educational resource developed by the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography. ||||| People rest at the George R. Brown Convention Center that has been set up as a shelter for evacuees escaping the floodwaters from Tropical Storm Harvey in Houston on Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2017. (AP Photo/LM... (Associated Press) 
 
 HOUSTON (AP) — The Latest on Tropical Storm Harvey (all times local): 
 
 11:15 p.m. 
 
 The Rockport-Fulton Fighting Pirates won't take the field Friday for their season opener, but some of their players took to the field Tuesday to help clean it up. 
 
 Winds from Harvey last week sheared the uprights from both goal posts, stripped most of the metal from the stadium scoreboards, scattered sheet metal through the stands and destroyed the gymnasium where the girls' volleyball team plays. 
 
 By word of mouth, some football and volleyball players met Monday afternoon to begin the cleanup. Even more players showed up Tuesday. 
 
 Athletic director Jay Seibert said that after three weeks of practice and a scrimmage, his players are now scattered all over the state after evacuating the coastal town near Corpus Christi and that the Pirates will not be able to play this week. 
 
 Right guard Angelo Trevino said that returning to the field will help the community recovery effort. 
 
 Harvey made landfall near Rockport last Friday as a Category 4 hurricane. 
 
 ___ 
 
 10:45 p.m. 
 
 Officials say they have received disturbing reports of people impersonating Homeland Security special agents and telling residents to evacuate in order to rob their homes. 
 
 The city of Houston says people should ask anyone knocking on their doors for official badges and credentials with their name and organization. The city's statement also notes that during Harvey relief efforts, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is not conducting immigration enforcement operations in the area. 
 
 The city also says in a tweet in both English and Spanish that it is not checking the immigration status of anyone coming into shelters. 
 
 ___ 
 
 10 p.m. 
 
 The death toll from Harvey has risen to at least 18 as three more fatalities have been confirmed in the Houston area. 
 
 The Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences updated its storm-related deaths Tuesday night to include an 89-year-old woman, Agnes Stanley, who was found floating in 4 feet (1.2 meters) of floodwater in a home. A 76-year-old woman was found floating in floodwater near a vehicle. Her name was not released. A 45-year-old man, Travis Lynn Callihan, left his vehicle and fell into floodwaters. He was taken to a hospital, where he died Monday. 
 
 Family members and authorities have reported at least 18 deaths although the bodies of some victims apparently swept away in the floodwaters have not been found. 
 
 ___ 
 
 9:30 p.m. 
 
 Singapore's defense ministry says as many as four of its military helicopters will start assisting in Tropical Storm Harvey relief efforts Wednesday. 
 
 The CH-47 Chinook helicopters are stationed in Grand Prairie, Texas, as part of a decades-long partnership between the Republic of Singapore Air Force and Texas National Guard. Singaporean airmen who train there learn how to face large-scale emergencies. 
 
 The ministry says the helicopters will be able to airlift troops, evacuees and supplies in the relief effort. 
 
 Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong made the offer in a call with President Donald Trump late Tuesday. Both leaders are set to meet at the White House in October. 
 
 Singapore made a similar offer after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. 
 
 ___ 
 
 9:15 p.m. 
 
 Houston officials are opening a major shelter at NRG Park that can accommodate up to 10,000 evacuees from Harvey. 
 
 Darian Ward, a spokeswoman for Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, said the convention center adjacent to the city's NFL stadium and the Astrodome will open at 10 p.m. Tuesday. 
 
 The new shelter will provide the city with additional capacity because the number of evacuees at the George R. Brown Convention Center is approaching 10,000, double its original capacity. 
 
 ___ 
 
 8:40 p.m. 
 
 Just 500 cots are being added to the floor of the Toyota Center, as the nearby downtown convention center will remain the primary major shelter for evacuees of Tropical Storm Harvey. 
 
 Tom McCasland, Houston's housing and community development director, told The Associated Press Tuesday that the Toyota Center— where the NBA's Houston Rockets play — will serve as an overflow center for people still arriving Tuesday night and early Wednesday. It will only serve families with children that don't have pressing medical needs. 
 
 The George R. Brown Convention Center has an estimated 9,000 people seeking shelter. McCasland says more cots are on the way for thousands of people who didn't have one Monday night. Some people slept on towels or strips of cardboard. 
 
 He says, "We fully expect to have everyone in a cot tonight." 
 
 ___ 
 
 8:30 p.m. 
 
 Federal and local agencies say they have rescued more than 13,000 people in the Houston area as well as in surrounding cities and counties in Southeast Texas since Tropical Storm Harvey inundated the area with torrential rain. 
 
 Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said Tuesday his agency has rescued about 4,100 people. 
 
 Houston Fire Chief Samuel Peña says his agency has rescued more than 3,000. 
 
 Parisa Safarzadeh, a spokeswoman for the Harris County Sheriff's Office says her agency has rescued more than 3,000 people. Houston is located in Harris County. 
 
 U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Mike Hart says his agency has rescued more than 3,000 individuals. Hart says the Coast Guard total includes rescues in Houston, but also in outlying cities and subdivisions outside of Houston, as well as in surrounding counties, including Brazoria, Galveston and Matagorda. 
 
 ___ 
 
 8:15 p.m. 
 
 Beaumont police say a woman has died after she and her young daughter were swept into a rain-swollen drainage canal while trying to escape their stalled vehicle. 
 
 A police statement said the woman pulled her vehicle into an office park's flooded parking lot about 3:35 p.m. Tuesday, where it became stalled by high water. The woman then took her daughter, exited the car and was swept about a half-mile away. 
 
 Two Beaumont police officers and two fire-rescue divers in a rubber boat spotted the mother floating with the child, who was holding onto her mother. Officers pulled the child and the mother into the boat. The child was responsive but suffering from hypothermia; the mother was unresponsive and efforts to revive her failed. The child is hospitalized in stable condition. 
 
 Authorities and family members have so far reported more than a dozen deaths from Harvey. 
 
 ___ 
 
 This item corrects the location of the parking lot. 
 
 ___ 
 
 7:55 p.m. 
 
 Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner has amended his curfew order to run from midnight to 5 a.m., instead of beginning at 10 p.m. 
 
 Turner announced the change on Twitter Tuesday evening, about an hour after initially imposing the curfew. 
 
 Police Chief Art Acevedo said at an earlier news conference that curfew violators will be stopped, questioned, searched and arrested. 
 
 There have been scattered reports of looting during the flooding from Tropical Storm Harvey. 
 
 ___ 
 
 7:35 p.m. 
 
 Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner says that the Toyota Center — home of the NBA's Rockets — has been opened as a shelter for people displaced by flooding from Tropical Storm Harvey. 
 
 Turner announced during a news conference Tuesday evening that the downtown basketball arena will be used to help reduce overflow at the nearby George R. Brown Convention Center, which is now sheltering 10,000 people. Officials had initially planned to have 5,000 individuals at the convention center. 
 
 Turner says people will still have to go to the convention center first before going into the Toyota Center. 
 
 Turner thanked Rockets owner Les Alexander for letting the city use the basketball arena as a shelter and also thanked him for his donation of $10 million for Harvey relief efforts. 
 
 Turner says because Houston police have been spread thin due to ongoing water rescues and other efforts, 50 Texas National Guard members will be stationed at the convention center to provide security. 
 
 ___ 
 
 7:20 p.m. 
 
 Officials say they have evacuated homes northeast of Houston after a chemical company said there is a risk of an explosion at its flooded plant. 
 
 The Harris County Fire Marshal's office said in a tweet Tuesday that homes within 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers) of the Arkema plant in Crosby have been evacuated out of precaution. 
 
 Arkema says in a news release that it manufactures organic peroxides in Crosby, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) northeast of Houston. The company says the chemical compounds must be stored at low temperatures, but it lost refrigerated storage after power went out and backup generators were inundated. 
 
 Arkema said it shut down the Crosby site before Harvey made landfall last week, but a crew of 11 had been kept onsite. That group was removed Tuesday. 
 
 ___ 
 
 7 p.m. 
 
 Harris County has confirmed the storm-related death of 64-year-old Alexander Kwoksum Sung, who drowned at a clock repair business Sunday in Houston. He was found in more than a foot of debris on Monday. 
 
 Authorities and family members have so far reported more than 10 deaths from Harvey. 
 
 ___ 
 
 6:45 p.m. 
 
 Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner says he is imposing a 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew in order to ensure public safety. 
 
 Turner says at a news conference Tuesday that there is no reason for people to be on the streets during those hours. 
 
 Police Chief Art Acevedo said violators will be stopped, questioned, searched and arrested. 
 
 There have been scattered reports of looting during the flooding from Tropical Storm Harvey. 
 
 ___ 
 
 6:30 p.m. 
 
 Authorities at a small city near Houston say a boater who was helping rescue people from the Harvey floodwaters has located a deceased man. 
 
 Friendswood Police spokeswoman Lisa Price said Tuesday authorities are not exactly sure how the man died and they haven't been able to confirm his identity. 
 
 Price says officers are still on the scene and the body has been taken to a funeral home. 
 
 Authorities earlier had confirmed five deaths that are believed to be related to Harvey. Another six people are missing and presumed dead after a van fell into a bayou. 
 
 ___ 
 
 6:25 p.m. 
 
 One of the nation's busiest trauma centers has abandoned evacuation plans and will discharge patients more quickly as it prepares for an expected surge of new patients with injuries related to Harvey. 
 
 Spokesman Bryan McLeod said Tuesday that Ben Taub Hospital's case management workers will help patients who "no longer require hospitalization" get back home or to shelters if their homes are flooded or inaccessible. 
 
 McLeod said "we're going to need those beds once the next wave comes." 
 
 Ben Taub is Houston's main public hospital of last resort, and many patients are poor and uninsured. 
 
 Building repairs continue on a burst sewage pipe and leaks that damaged the basement of the hospital's main building and affected pharmacy, food service and other key operations. 
 
 McLeod said the hospital has enough food to last until Thursday, when all hospital staff and administrators will be expected back at work. 
 
 ___ 
 
 6:10 p.m. 
 
 Authorities say an 83-year-old woman has died after her vehicle was caught in floodwaters caused by Tropical Storm Harvey in Walker County, north of Houston. 
 
 Officials with the Texas Department of Public safety say a state trooper out checking the road conditions early Tuesday morning came across Ola Mae Crooks' vehicle. Sgt. Richard Standifer with the Texas Department of Public Safety tells The Associated Press that the trooper contacted the swift water rescue team, which recovered the body. 
 
 Sgt. Steven McNeil with the Texas Department of Public Safety tells the Huntsville Item newspaper that a preliminary investigation indicates Crooks drowned when her car was swept off a farm-to-market road at the San Jacinto River near her home. McNeil says it appears Crooks was trying to cross the bridge and the swift water carried her vehicle off the road and into the flood waters. 
 
 ___ 
 
 5:50 p.m. 
 
 Hundreds of people are waiting in line at the George R. Brown Convention Center to register with the Federal Emergency Management Agency for disaster assistance. 
 
 Many evacuees arrived with what was in their pockets and nothing else. 
 
 John Boyce lived in a west Houston apartment and had to be pulled out by boat. He was initially taken to a local hospital and was given paper scrubs to wear before being taken to the convention center, because his clothes were wet and soaked in sewage. 
 
 His two possessions are a cell phone and a wallet. He dried the cards inside the wallet on a piece of cardboard, and his cellphone worked after he held the battery under a bathroom hair dryer. 
 
 He took his first shower Tuesday in a mobile unit brought in by the Red Cross. 
 
 FEMA is expected to provide assistance to people left homeless in Harvey. 
 
 The 49-year-old Boyce hopes he can get enough money to travel to Alaska and join his daughter and grandchild. He says, "I have nothing to go back to here." 
 
 ___ 
 
 5:30 p.m. 
 
 For the drenched Houston region, an end to the rain and a sunny day are almost in sight. But that's only because meteorologists forecast Harvey to come inland Wednesday, then slog through Louisiana and take its downpours north. Arkansas, Tennessee, parts of Missouri and southern Illinois are on alert for Harvey flooding in a couple days. 
 
 Harvey is forecast to return inland around the Texas-Louisiana line and close to Beaumont, Texas, early Wednesday morning or late Tuesday night with 45 mph (72 kph) winds and heavy rains, spending much of Wednesday in Louisiana. Along the Gulf Coast, rain is expected to continue Wednesday but taper off. 
 
 Dennis Feltgen, National Hurricane Center spokesman says, "Texas is going to get a chance to finally dry out as this system pulls out." 
 
 But Feltgen cautioned that this doesn't mean Harvey is ending. 
 
 Flash flood watches are already posted for parts of Tennessee, southern Illinois and southeast Missouri. 
 
 Those areas and Arkansas could get six or seven inches of rain, but it won't be anything like what southeast Texas got. 
 
 The National Weather Service in Houston forecasts less of an inch for the city on Wednesday, and only a 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms for Thursday. And then for Friday it says, "mostly sunny." 
 
 ___ 
 
 5:15 p.m. 
 
 In far North Dallas, hundreds of volunteers are handling a steady stream of cars, trucks and trailers loaded with water, diapers and other goods for hurricane relief. 
 
 The drop-off point announced by the city of Dallas is managed by the nonprofit Trusted World, which also has other drop off points in office buildings and other public locations. 
 
 The volunteers say they have seen thousands of vehicles loaded Tuesday with items to donate for hurricane relief. The volume of vehicles loaded with items to donate extended out onto and down the northbound frontage road of the Dallas North Tollway. One 34-foot trailer belonging to a cabinet maker was filled with bottled water and other items. The drop-off point was open from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. 
 
 ___ 
 
 4:15 p.m. 
 
 Harvey has gained a bit of strength but stayed a tropical storm. Its winds increased from 45 mph (72 kph) to 50 mph (80 kph). 
 
 But the National Hurricane Center says that reading Tuesday afternoon may be unusual because it was from a low flying hurricane hunter airplane. 
 
 Forecasters say heavy rains are continuing to spread over southeastern Texas and southern Louisiana. 
 
 The rains in Cedar Bayou, near Mont Belvieu, Texas, reached 51.88 inches (132 centimeters) as of 3:30 p.m. CDT. That's a record for both Texas and the continental United States but it doesn't quite pass the 52 inches (133 centimeters) from tropical cyclone Hiki in Kauai, Hawaii, in 1950 (before Hawaii became a state). 
 
 ___ 
 
 3:20 p.m. 
 
 An official says that a levee protecting a subdivision of homes in a county south of Houston has been fortified after being breached but warns the threat is far from over. 
 
 Brazoria County spokeswoman Sharon Trower said Tuesday afternoon that the levee had been fortified. Earlier in the day the county had posted on Twitter: "NOTICE: The levee at Columbia Lakes has been breached!! GET OUT NOW!!" 
 
 She says that some water did get through but it wasn't substantial. She warns that authorities don't know how long the fortification will hold. She also notes the breach happened due to rainwater but that the nearby Brazos River continues to spill out of its banks. 
 
 Trower says that the mandatory evacuation ordered Sunday morning still stands and notes that most of the residents in the area have left. 
 
 Brazoria County Judge Matt Sebesta has said that there are hundreds of homes in the tree-lined subdivision situated around a golf course. 
 
 ___ 
 
 3:10 p.m. 
 
 Federal regulators say dozens of offshore oil-and-gas platforms and rigs in the Gulf of Mexico have been evacuated as Tropical Storm Harvey continues to dump heavy rainfall on the region. 
 
 The U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said in a statement Tuesday that workers were evacuated from 102 production platforms, which is nearly 14 percent of the 737 manned platforms in the Gulf. 
 
 Five of the 10 drilling rigs currently operating in the Gulf also had been evacuated as of noon Tuesday. The bureau estimated that approximately 19 percent of the Gulf's oil and natural gas production was "shut-in," or temporarily halted, as of midday Tuesday. Offshore facilities will be inspected once the storm has passed. 
 
 The Texas Gulf is a key area for U.S. oil refineries and oil and gas production. 
 
 ___ 
 
 2:55 p.m. 
 
 Facebook and Google are matching donations to people affected by Hurricane Harvey, the tech giants announced on Tuesday. Facebook says it will match every dollar raised through its platform, up to $1 million, for the Center for Disaster Philanthropy's Hurricane Harvey Recovery Fund. The money will support local recovery and rebuilding efforts. U.S. Facebook users are getting a message at the top of their news feed on how to donate. 
 
 Google says it is matching $1 million in donations to the American Red Cross. To donate, go to https://www.google.org/harvey-relief/ . The company also matched donations from employees, and said Tuesday it donated $750,000 between its nonprofit arm, Google.org, and employee contributions to organizations such as the American Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity and Save the Children. 
 
 ___ 
 
 2:30 p.m. 
 
 Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner confirmed that police Sgt. Steve Perez has died after he became trapped in his patrol car as he was driving to work. 
 
 The Houston Chronicle has reported that the 30-year officer was heading to work Sunday when he became trapped in high water on Interstate 45 in north Harris County and then couldn't get himself out of his car. 
 
 ___ 
 
 2:05 p.m. 
 
 NAACP interim President Derrick Johnson says his organization will carefully monitor government assistance in Houston and other areas to ensure minority neighborhoods get adequate resources following Harvey's destruction on the Gulf Coast. 
 
 Johnson says the NAACP's goal will be "to ensure that resources directed from the federal government don't skip neighborhoods." 
 
 Johnson told the National Press Club Tuesday that he met with officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency earlier in the day. He says the NAACP has a responsibility to make sure "equity is at the table" during recovery efforts, noting that minority neighborhoods suffered disproportionately during Hurricane Katrina. 
 
 Johnson is the former president of the Mississippi State Conference NAACP. He says Katrina shows "it is critically important for the association to ensure that the recovery is equitable." 
 
 ___ 
 
 1:35 p.m. 
 
 Gov. John Bel Edwards says Louisiana is offering to shelter storm victims from Texas while the state also helps its own residents who were rescued from Harvey's floodwaters overnight. 
 
 Edwards said at a news conference Tuesday in Baton Rouge that he expects Texas officials to decide within 48 hours whether to accept the offer and transport flood victims to Louisiana shelters. 
 
 Approximately 500 people were evacuated Monday night and early Tuesday from flooded neighborhoods in southwest Louisiana. Edwards says about 200 of them spent the night in area shelters. 
 
 Edwards says more than 600 members of the Louisiana National Guard are on storm-related duty. Many are assisting with rescue efforts. 
 
 Edwards says Tropical Storm Harvey was strengthening slightly after moving back into the Gulf of Mexico but wasn't expected to become a hurricane again before its predicted Wednesday landfall in Louisiana. 
 
 ___ 
 
 1:35 p.m. 
 
 Volunteers and donors are lining up outside of the Toyota Center, the downtown arena that's home to the Houston Rockets, in anticipation that it will open as a shelter for Harvey evacuees. 
 
 City officials and Red Cross spokesmen have not confirmed that the arena will open to shelter evacuees. But several people who went to the George R. Brown Convention Center to volunteer or drop off clothes were told that the Toyota Center would open Tuesday afternoon. Around 30 people are waiting outside an arena entrance. 
 
 The convention center has nearly doubled its original 5,000-person capacity, and Mayor Sylvester Turner says the city may open multiple major shelters to accommodate the thousands of people still seeking shelter. 
 
 ___ 
 
 1:25 p.m. 
 
 Houston Fire Chief Samuel Peña says his agency has responded to more than 1,000 calls for service — including 400 water rescues — since Harvey inundated much of the city. 
 
 Peña says some fire department crews have been working for three days straight, without a break, and he has implemented procedures to ensure firefighters get the nourishment and rest they need. 
 
 Peña says it has been difficult to get in fresh crews to replace firefighters at some locations because in many areas, "we can't get in and out of the fire stations" due to flooding. "We can't deploy them to where we need them with their equipment." 
 
 Peña says the fire department is managing the resources it has on hand and will rotate in fresh firefighter crews as it is able to do so. 
 
 ___ 
 
 1:10 p.m. 
 
 The University of Tampa has fired a visiting assistant professor who suggested in a tweet that Harvey's destruction is "instant karma" for Texas because it voted Republican. 
 
 Sociology professor Kenneth L. Storey posted the tweet and two responses on Sunday before removing the entire thread and his profile photo. 
 
 University spokesman Eric Cardenas said in a statement Tuesday that Storey was fired after the school weathered an outpouring of online outrage over the comments. 
 
 The Tampa Bay Times reports Storey issued an apology on Monday, writing that he "never meant to wish ill will upon any group." 
 
 In a Facebook post on Monday evening, the university said it "stands in solidarity with the people impacted by Hurricane Harvey." 
 
 Officials said another sociology professor will take over Storey's classes. 
 
 ___ 
 
 1 p.m. 
 
 Weather forecasters expect Tropical Storm Harvey to come ashore somewhere near Louisiana's southwestern corner, following its trip through Texas and return to the Gulf. 
 
 National Weather Service meteorologist Roger Erickson said Tuesday that officials project a landfall in Cameron Parish around midday Wednesday. Erickson says another 4 to 8 inches (10 to 20 centimeters) of rain is likely across southwest Louisiana. 
 
 Forecasters also project heavy rain running east from New Orleans to Pensacola along the Gulf Coast. 
 
 Harvey is expected to bring gusts up to 45 mph (70 kph) in coastal areas and gusts of up to 35 mph (55 kph) in Lake Charles and along the Interstate 10 corridor. 
 
 Erickson warns that some coastal rivers won't be able to drain rains effectively because Harvey's winds are pushing storm surge into coastal waters, aggravating flooding in places that have already received more than 20 inches of rain. 
 
 ___ 
 
 12:55 p.m. 
 
 The Salvation Army says it has provided more than 5,000 meals in the Houston area since Harvey swamped parts of the city. 
 
 A Salvation Army statement Tuesday said the charitable group has deployed 42 mobile units that each can provide up to 1,500 meals per day. The group also sent two field kitchens, which can each serve up to 15,000 meals per day, to emergency personnel and flood survivors. 
 
 The Salvation Army says multiple staging areas are being set up across Texas to coordinate relief efforts as Harvey impacts more people. Those sites include Houston, San Antonio, Victoria and Arlington. 
 
 Lt. Col. Ron Busroe says donations from the public will help provide food, shelter and other valuable resources to people in Houston. 
 
 ___ 
 
 12:45 p.m. 
 
 There was no escaping Harvey for members of one Southeast Texas family who found themselves on an extended stay at a New Orleans bed-and-breakfast — where sandbags are in place to guard against possible Harvey-related floods. 
 
 The Auld Sweet Olive Bed and Breakfast is the new, temporary home for Joe Aldape (ahl-DAH'-pey), his sister Cynthia, his son Joseph and other family members from the League City, Texas, area. 
 
 They had forged ahead with New Orleans vacation plans as Harvey developed. As of Tuesday, they had no way to return to their flooded homes. Meanwhile, bands of rain from Harvey prompted flash flood watches in New Orleans. 
 
 Bed-and-breakfast owner Nancy Gunn said her business took on water during Aug. 5 flash floods, but that it has not flooded so far during Harvey's rains. 
 
 ___ 
 
 12:35 p.m. 
 
 A South Texas ferry system operated by the state is closed to the public until further notice after at least two vessels were damaged during Hurricane Harvey. 
 
 A Texas Department of Transportation spokesman said Tuesday that all seven boats in the Port Aransas (uh-RAN'-suhs) Ferry System are being assessed. Rickey Dailey says the ferries must pass Coast Guard inspection before returning to service. 
 
 The ferry system provides free transportation connecting travelers between Aransas Pass on the mainland and Port Aransas on Mustang Island. It's a quarter-mile trip. 
 
 The ferries, each capable of transporting at least 20 vehicles, were taken out of service Friday morning as Harvey approached Port Aransas, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) northeast of Corpus Christi. The area is where Harvey made landfall Friday night. 
 
 Dailey says all seven ferries were docked on the Port Aransas side when the storm hit. 
 
 ___ 
 
 12:30 p.m. 
 
 Kim Kardashian West and her famous siblings are donating $500,000 to help victims of Hurricane Harvey. 
 
 A spokeswoman for the reality star says she and her mother and sisters have given $250,000 to the Red Cross and $250,000 to the Salvation Army on Tuesday. 
 
 Kardashian West announced the donation on Twitter Tuesday, saying: "Houston we are praying for you." She used the hashtag #HoustonStrong. 
 
 They are among several stars who've said publicly they are helping hurricane victims. Kevin Hart on Monday announced a $25,000 donation to the Red Cross for storm victims and called on other celebrities to do the same. 
 
 ___ 
 
 12:25 p.m. 
 
 Houston plans to open up at least two more big shelters to house people trying to escape Harvey's floodwaters. 
 
 Mayor Sylvester Turner said at a news conference Tuesday that more than 9,000 people are now staying at George R. Brown Convention Center — the largest shelter that has so far been opened. The capacity at the convention center was supposed to be 5,000 people. 
 
 Turner says Houston will open up two new big shelters, and possibly a third. He didn't identify where the shelters would be. More details are expected later Tuesday. 
 
 Turner says the number of people at the convention center has continued to grow because the facility is housing not only Houston residents but people from surrounding communities outside the city limits who are in need of shelter. 
 
 ___ 
 
 12:25 p.m. 
 
 The mayor of Galveston is asking residents to stay put and off flooded roads as the city anticipates more rain from Harvey. 
 
 Mayor Jim Yarbrough says the city of about 50,000 could get up to 4 more inches (10 centimeters) of rain by Wednesday. The mayor says he wants Galveston residents to stay off the roads until conditions improve. Public transportation is not in service in Galveston. The city is 50 miles (80 kilometers) southeast of Houston. 
 
 The Port of Galveston remains closed. 
 
 ___ 
 
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 ___ 
 
 12:20 p.m. 
 
 Houston's top law officer is warning would-be looters amid flooding from Harvey. 
 
 Police Chief Art Acevedo said during a news conference Tuesday that armed robbers were apprehended overnight and a "handful" of looters were also taken into custody. He didn't say just how many have been arrested on charges related to looting. 
 
 Acevedo says he's spoken with the Harris County district attorney's office to ensure anyone suspected of looting is prosecuted. He also says he'll lobby judges and prosecutors to secure the most severe punishment Texas law allows. 
 
 State law allows for penalty enhancements for crimes like burglary and robbery that occur during a state of disaster ||||| East Texas county tells residents 'GET OUT OR DIE!' 
 
 Emergency Management officials in Tyler County in East Texas posted a harrowing Facebook message Wednesday evening warning residents of imminent and deadly flooding. 
 
 "The U.S. Army Corp of Engineers has advised the Tyler County office of Emergency Management that the flood gates were opened to 100 feet at 3:00 pm CSDST," wrote Tyler County Judge Jacques Blanchette. "River levels will rise to near seventy nine feet. With additional rain fall accumulations, a potential elevation could reach near eighty two feet." 
 
 The alarming message said residents near the area must evacuate immediately. 
 
 STORM DEATHS: Death toll from Harvey flooding exceeds 30 
 
 "Anyone who chooses to not heed this directive cannot expect to be rescued and should write their social security numbers in permanent marker on their arm so their bodies can be identified," wrote Blanchette. "The loss of life and property is certain." 
 
 The emergency advisory ended with the words "GET OUT OR DIE!" along with a phone number for anyone needing boat assistance or rescue. 
 
 Tropical Storm Harvey made a second landfall in Louisiana early Wednesday. Along the way, it has dumped rain on east Texas communities, including Tyler County. 
 
 AFTER HARVEY: How to help victims of the Texas storm 
 
 According to the National Weather Service, communities in Southeast Texas received between 8-15 inches of rainfall as Harvey slowly made its way to Louisiana. 
 
 In Harris County, an average of 27 inches fell on the region between Friday and Monday, with some spots receives a record 50 inches. 
 
 See photos of the destruction and flooding caused by Harvey above.
– A Facebook warning from emergency management officials in Texas' Tyler County shows just how dire the effects of Harvey continue to be. Citing rising flood levels, the post late Wednesday warned everyone in affected areas to evacuate immediately. "Anyone who chooses to not heed this directive cannot expect to be rescued and should write their social security numbers in permanent marker on their arm so their bodies can be identified," the message read, per the Houston Chronicle. "The loss of life and property is certain," it continued. The final words read, "GET OUT OR DIE!” though they have since been removed. In Fort Bend County, officials also announced mandatory evacuation orders near Buffalo Bayou early Thursday, per the AP. Harvey, downgraded from a tropical storm to a tropical depression late Wednesday, is still expected to deliver 4 to 8 inches of rain into parts of Texas and Louisiana as well as Tennessee and Kentucky through Friday. The death toll continues to climb and now stands at 38, reports the New York Times. "The sad thing is, of the deaths we've seen, we're going to see more," the deputy director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness tells the AP. "That number doesn't stop moving up until we're well into the recovery phase." With floodwaters receding in Houston, officials have begun searching thousands of flooded homes for bodies. The effort could take up to two weeks with 911 centers still fielding more than 1,000 calls per hour, the AP reports.