Harvey toll is immense

The known death toll from Harvey rose to 18 on Tuesday (August 29th) and federal and local agencies said they had rescued more than 13,000 people from the massive flooding in Houston and surrounding cities and counties. Among the dead was a 60-year-old police officer who drowned in his patrol car after becoming trapped in high water while trying to drive in to work, and six members of one family, including four children, were believed dead after their van sank. Houston's convention center, which is the main shelter for flood evacuees, was holding almost 10,000 people, double its capacity, so the city opened the Toyota Center, which is home to the NBA's Houston Rockets as a shelter, and is readying NRG Park, the NFL's Houston Texans' home stadium, to also hold evaucees. Televangelist Joel Osteen also opened his 16,000-seat megachurch to offer shelter after being blasted on social media for not doing so. As officials watched strained dams and levees, hoping that they will hold, there was finally some good news in the forecast, with the National Weather Service predicting less than of an inch of rain for Houston today and only a 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms for Thursday. However, Harvey will drop rain on Louisiana for most of today after moving back inland from the Gulf of Mexico, before moving on to Arkansas, Tennessee and parts of Missouri.