Tech: Flash floods send Texans into 'survival mode' as Harvey hits Port Arthur with 26 inches of rain in one day

A shelter where at least 100 people were staying after their homes flooded was inundated early Wednesday morning, forcing evacuees to abandon floating cots.

Harvey has dumped over 26 inches of rain on Port Arthur, Texas in a single day, and residents are desperate to escape.

The Bowers Civic Center, where at least 100 people were seeking shelter after their own homes flooded, was inundated with water early Wednesday morning. Evacuees were forced to abandon floating cots and retreat to the bleachers lining the building.

Mayor Derrick Freeman told CBS News that 20,000 homes have water in them, up to 6 feet deep in some places. Jefferson County Deputy Sheriff Marcus McLellan said 911 operators were overwhelmed with requests, and residents were in "survival mode."

"Our whole city is underwater right now but we are coming! If you called, we are coming," Freeman posted on Facebook early Wednesday morning. "Please get to higher ground if you can, but please try stay out of attics."

The Jefferson County Office of Emergency Management said on Facebook that first responders would resume water rescue operations once the sun came up.

The city's Twitter account encouraged Port Arthur residents to "display a white towel, sheet, shirt or anything" so rescuers could find them in the torrential rain that was still pouring down Wednesday morning.

Hal Needham, a hurricane scientist at Louisiana State University, estimated in a blog post that the "golden triangle" of Port Arthur, Beaumont, and Orange, Texas was getting up to 4 to 6 inches of rain an hour. The Weather Channel reported Port Arthur was receiving up to 3.87 inches per hour.

"I promise I am not exaggerating when I say at least hundreds, if not thousands, of people are fighting for their lives right now," Needham wrote Wednesday morning.

People in the area posted hundreds of messages on Facebook and Twitter requesting rescues:

Officials closed highway I-10 from Houston to New Orleans because the floodwaters were so high. And the Motiva oil refinery in Port Arthur, the largest in the US, was forced to shut down because of the flood, CNN reported.

Livestock were also caught in the floodwaters, and the local Texas Department of Transportation posted a harrowing video of cattle running down a flooded highway:

"We aren't hearing these people crying out because they have no voice. Many have lost power, in the best case have made it to a roof," Needham wrote. "The eyes of the world are on Houston and these smaller cities in southeast Texas are crying out and nobody can hear them."

A shelter where at least 100 people were staying after their homes flooded was inundated early Wednesday morning, forcing evacuees to abandon floating cots. Read Full Story