

The recovery from Harvey will require even more money than the package Congress appropriated for Hurricane Katrina relief, he said. And all city employees, you are due back at work on Tuesday.”īut Turner said residents are still struggling and first responders will go door-to-door to check on the elderly, housing conditions and disabled people.Ībbott said on CNN’s “State of the Union” that his state was going to need a massive commitment from the federal government as it begins to recover from the storm. “On Tuesday we are getting back on our feet, and I’m expecting employees – employers to open, employees to go to work. “And so if you have a conference, a convention, a concert, any of those things that were planned, that you were planning to come to this city, we are still ready to welcome you,” he said. Most of Houston is operational and more than 95% of the city is dry, Turner said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” Most businesses will reopen Tuesday, he added. Greg Abbott both appeared Sunday on morning talk shows. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and Texas Gov. Why we don’t yet know Harvey’s true toll? As for wastewater and sewage, 1,656 of about 2,469 wastewater treatment plants are fully operational in affected counties. Of those, 1,514 systems are fully operational, 166 have boil-water notices, and 50 are shut down. The Superfund sites and the Arkema plant represent just a snapshot of the catastrophic storm’s cascading effects.Īs of Saturday, 2,300 of the 4,500 drinking water systems potentially affected by Harvey have been contacted, the EPA said. Officials have been letting chemical containers catch fire and burn out rather than endanger firefighters, the EPA and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality said in a joint statement. The evacuation order was lifted early Monday morning after local officials determined it was safe to let residents return home. People living within 1.5 miles from the Arkema site in Crosby were evacuated days before the explosions.

The toxic waste sites are the latest environmental threat to emerge since Harvey swept through the region.įires broke out over two days at a flooded chemical plant near Houston. The 13 affected sites have industrial waste from petrochemical companies, acid compounds, solvents and pesticides. In the Houston area, authorities had said it would take 10-15 days for floodwaters to recede.Ī Superfund site is land that is contaminated by hazardous waste and identified by the EPA as a candidate for cleanup because it poses a risk to human health and/or the environment.

The EPA said its workers have not been able to “safely access the sites” but are ready to do so as soon as the floodwaters recede. The impact of flooding on the sites is unknown. The agency announced Saturday that it had assessed 41 Superfund sites using aerial images, and determined the ones badly affected by the storm.
#Texas hurricane aftermath full
But, with rivers still full and floodwaters only starting to recede, officials say it will be a long time before the full extent of the damage reveals itself.Īt least 13 toxic waste sites in Texas were flooded or damaged by Hurricane Harvey, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. As Harvey’s rainfall tapered off over the weekend in Texas, the region is starting to take stock of the damage as it enters the next phase of recovery.Ĭleanup efforts are underway after the deadly storm.
