Deadly flooding in Houston.
Tropical storm Harvey has uunleashed catastrophic flooding in Houston.
the largest city in the US state of Texas, turning streets into raging rivers, as trapped residents climbed to higher floors and authorities reported several deaths.
A man, was killed when a fire hit a Houston-area home during the storm, while a woman drowned as she tried to get out of her vehicle in high water, the Texas Tribune reported on Sunday.
Local news outlet Houston Chronicle quoted the National Weather Service as saying that five people had died so far, while the death toll was expected to rise.
City officials received at least 2,000 emergency calls from residents as waters continue to rise, leaving thousands of homes flooded and motorists stranded. More than 1,000 residents were rescued from flash floods overnight, authorities said.
"It is bad and growing worse," said Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who added that the category 4 storm, which first crashed ashore on the Gulf Coast on Friday, had inflicted billions of dollars in damage.
"This appears to be either the worst or one of the worst floods Houston has ever had. We are measuring it not in inches but in feet," Abbott told CBS television news.
"This event is unprecedented and all impacts are unknown & beyond anything experienced," the National Weather Service said on Twitter.
US President Donald Trump, who was spending the weekend at the Camp David presidential retreat, said "the focus must be on life and safety" in responding to the disaster.
The White House later announced on Sunday that the president will be visiting Texas on Tuesday.
Houston began opening community centres to shelter people forced out of their homes, but House Mayor Sylvester Turner appealed to residents to stay put and not call the 911 emergency line unless they faced a life-threatening situation.
"Do not get on the road. Even if there's a lull today, don't assume the storm is over," Turner said at a news conference on Sunday. "The best way to keep from being stranded is to stay off the streets."
He defended his decision not to order a mass evacuation ahead of the storm, saying moving 2.3 million people would only create a "nightmare".
Houston's Bush Intercontinental Airport canceled all commercial flights on Sunday after flooding inundated access roads.
The city's only other airport, Hobby International, had earlier stopped all flights "due to standing water in runways".
US weather service said about 60cm of rain fell in Houston and nearby Galveston in a 24-hour period.
"If the highest floor of your home becomes dangerous ... get on the roof!" Houston's emergency management agency warned in a bulletin.
Images captured by Al Jazeera showed rescue boats and rafts carrying several people while navigating the city's flooded streets.
Another photo that became viral on social media showed elderly women, trapped in floodwaters in a nursing home in Galveston, southeast of Houston and adjacent to the Gulf of Mexico.
This is dummy text. It is not meant to be read. Accordingly, it is difficult to figure out when to end it. But then, this is dummy text. It is not meant to be read. Period.
ConversionConversion EmoticonEmoticon