Houston Flooding Prompts Acts Of Heroism And Bravery Among Texas Citizens

Nothing keeps these people down.
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The US has been battered by Hurricane Harvey, the worst storm to hit the Houston region of Texas in 50 years.

Since the storm made landfall on Friday evening, more than 30 inches of rain have fallen in parts of Texas, in some cases nearly doubling previous records.

So much rain has drenched the state that the National Weather Service added a new colour to its maps to illustrate the intensity.

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Rescuers help a woman from a flooded retirement home into a boat after Hurricane Harvey in Spring, Texas
Bloomberg via Getty Images

Brock Long, of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, predicted Sunday that it will take years for Texas to recover from the damage. The agency expects more than 450,000 people will seek federal assistance for storm recovery, and anticipates at least 30,000 people will be displaced.

But among the devastation, the tenacity of the human spirit has shone through with many individual tales of acts of heroism and bravery emerging from the disaster...

1. This man spotted carrying children through rising floodwaters

2. This 60-year-old woman was so determined not to miss work, she waded to the hotel where she works through waist-deep water

Gloria Maria Quintanilla, an immigrant from El Salvador, refused to miss a day of work at the Doubletree hotel where she worked washing and ironing sheets and towels.

She told the New York Times: “It was my day to work, and I’m a very responsible person.”

Read the full NYT story here.

3. This guy, who refused to let the weather dampen his spirits

4. This team of heroes who refused to let pets be forgotten

5. As well as these residents who cared for their local bat population

6. The owners of this furniture shop who made the most of their products

7. This church leader who went out checking cars to make sure no one was trapped

8. This reporter who saved a trapped person live on air

9. Plus these folks and many more using their own boats to help rescue those in need

Donald Trump is due to visit the flooded state on Tuesday.

Flood damage in Texas from Hurricane Harvey may equal that from Katrina, one of the costliest natural disasters in US history, an insurance research group said on Sunday.