The reports we have been getting from the transmission providers in the region are up to 3000 thousand still without power. They will have difficulty getting to some of those lines. They will be working and well be staying in touch with them. They will be prioritizeding the circuits that will bring the most of people on most of quickly. Harris how would you describe the hit the grid is taking right now . The main damage occurred overnight . The storm does continue to hover over the state with high levels of rain. Some high winds that are moving inland. Right now the damage to the system extends from around the Corpus Christi area near where the storm hit land last night up through matagorda through houston and inland to victoria. This is a widespread area. Harris how many miles would you say that is . Hundreds of miles, and again about 300,000 people are affected right now without power. Over the next few days well probably see those numbers fluctuate, probably there will be more outag
Now working in the region to reduce the power outages. Since the last time i reported, there are two other Power Companies with reports. Our numbers show that centerpoint has a little bit more than 90,000 power outages. And that would be primarily in the greater Harris County region and also entergy has more than 81,000 power outages. And they are all working as swiftly as possible to restore power. For the texas tceq, i want you to know that they have been working with the epa on a daily basis to address environmentalbased issues. They have deployed rapid needs teams to assess needs that have arisen in certain areas. Including water and wastewater assessment teams, especially focused in that regard on the corpus christi, ingleside and rockport areas. A report from the texas parks and wildlife. They have 5,000 evacuees at state parks in the state of texas. Most of those are in shelters, cabins or mobile homes. A report from the department of Public Safety. There are more than 2,000 dep
Those are just the most immediate steps. Importantly, this is a place that texas and fema will be involved in for a long, long time. We will be here until we can restore this region as back to normal as possible. Or as with where he discussed at our meeting earlier, we need to recognize its going to be a new normal, a new and different normal for this entire region. But we will not stop until we get as far as we can. I want to provide some important details and then pass the mike to senator cornyn and then to the national fema administer. But i want to explain a couple of details that citizens need to know about. As governor i have made a state disaster declaration for 54 contracts across the state of texas. In order for a disaster declaration to become a federal disaster declaration, it requires certain financial thresholds to be met. Those financial thresholds have been met in 18 counties. There are 18 counties in the state of texas i made a federal disaster declaration for that the
Sacrificial land, look how deep this water is, jackie and heather. Fire trucks can be the get et out and they will come out and understand what is happening overnight with controlled release of attics and reservoirs. They are worried the dams will break, if dams break houston, downtown floods, thats a better option than to flood the southwest and some other neighborhoods intentionally on top of the expected rain that is going to add more downpour and further flooding with thousands of people being rescued just blocks from here, if i could just reach over for one second, monica, i think i know youre a resident and live tv, have you heard the news that theyre going to release, theyve already bebegan to release water out of the dam and more rain is coming, have you decided what youre going to do and are you frightened this morning . Actually i went to my friends house that lives few blocks from here and the water is to my waist and i went over there because theres no power and to drop a p
And the storm claims more lives, including a first responder. It was his turn to go, she said. This is the way he would have wanted to go. And the president heads to missouri this morning to sell tax reform after appearing in texas. Theres never been anything so expensive in our countrys history. Theres never been anything so historic in terms of damage. We begin with harveys newest target, the powerful Tropical Storm taking yet another painful punch at the gulf coast, making a third landfall early this morning near the texas louisiana border. Lets get you caught up on the latest. At least ten confirmed tets hde have been attributed to the storm, including 60yearold Police Officer steve perez who drowned while drive to work on sunday. At least 18,600 people have been rescued from flooding just in the houston area with several thousand evacuees flocking to shelters. Take a look at this video from customs and Border Patrol showing the dramatic rescue of two people who were caught up in t