Port Arthur, Texas was swamped with 30 inches of rain from Hurricane Harvey on August 30, and people in the small community pleaded for help on social media.
Evacuations underway at Port Arthur shelter after it flooded overnight t.co/gdOOgle9Zk #TexasFlood
The mayor of Port Arthur, Derrick Freeman, even streamed on Facebook Live from inside his home.
Photos and videos showed horrific scenes of severe flooding.
Even an evacuation shelter in Port Arthur flooded.
Video from Kevon Rayford who is inside the flooded Port Arthur shelter #TexasFlood
The Texas city of Beaumont also flooded, costing at least two people their lives.
Hundreds of people at the shelter. Ana Platero who is working there sent across this evacuation video #TexasFlood
According to 12NewsNow, the mayor of Port Arthur described the “whole city” as being underwater.
Coast Gaurd Helicopters in the background, and boat after boat coming into Dylan’s in Port Arthur, getting ready to launch. @12NewsNow
The television station reported that hundreds, and possibly thousands, of homes in Port Arthur were underwater as a result of the flooding.
https://twitter.com/Corrynmb/status/902942845673332736
The darkness halted rescues for a time.
‘No One Can Get In and No One Can Get Out’: 2 Port Arthur Nursing Homes Taking on Water t.co/ULxpBhy83r
Jefferson County Judge Jeff Branick told 12NewsNow: “There are people that are needing to be rescued and evacuated, brought to sheltering areas and given the nighttime hours, the darkness, it’s impossible to wage a boat rescue and we simply don’t have enough high-water vehicles that are available to us.”
Port Arthur mayor: ‘Our whole city is underwater’ t.co/Mz8w4RV4G2
Near Port Arthur. We just passed a woman who said she wasn’t ready to go “yet.” Rescuers say that’s been the frustrating thing through day.
911 call lines were overloaded, and tragic messages were posted to social media from people begging for help.
https://twitter.com/hopeponsegrauXO/status/902915614095835137
At 1 a.m., a woman wrote on social media, “Lord please! If you have a boat please come get me & my family I’m trying to stay calm but the water is coming in at a fast rate.”
An evacuation center in Port Arthur, TX flooded overnight, with water nearly reaching the top of cots at the shelter t.co/glht9ggmcR
There were many similar calls for help.
My first job was in TV was in Beaumont/Port Arthur. I hate to see what’s happening there. #Harvey #PortArthur
Three hours later, the same woman wrote, “Water is now waist level & I still have not found any help this is crazy. My phone is on 9% I’m 35 Wks pregnant ! Please keep calling for me water is waist deep.”
According to The Huffington Post, photos also showed “floodwaters invading Port Arthur’s Bob Bower Civic Center, where hundreds of evacuees were seeking shelter. People were eventually moved on Wednesday to the Carl A. Parker Multipurpose Center, even though police said the facility contained zero supplies.”
A Fox News reporter described the scene in Port Arthur as looking “like a war zone.”
3 steps down & she’s knee deep. This Coast Guard member is stranded in #PortArthur apt. Family in Indy shocked by pics. @WISH_TV #Daybreak8
The city, located 90 miles from Houston, was a scene of devastation.
Need people to help transport people from port Arthur bowling alley to churches for refuge. #HarveyRelief #coffeebeans
“Many people are trapped, as rains have flooded most major roads out of the city and even a shelter for victims fleeing the storm,” Fox reported.
Port Arthur is surviving this.
“This looks like a war zone,” Fox News’ Matt Finn said from Port Arthur. “We are witnessing people being rescued from their homes in bare feet, shivering, some people without clothes.”