Houston Flooding Kills Five, Forces Hundreds of Residents to Evacuate

The city of Houston is virtually underwater after the area received an estimated 240 billion gallons of rain—approximately what the city receives in an entire season—in a matter of hours.

NBC reports that five people have been killed in the floods, and more than 1,000 homes have been flooded, forcing thousands of residents to evacuate.

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“This is an unprecedented amount of rain,” Houston Mayo Sylvester Turner said to NBC News. “”It’s been stubborn, and it’s not moving anytime fast.”

Area meteorologists are calling the situation “life-threatening” and are urging individuals to stay inside. Hundreds of flights have been canceled, schools are closed and 43,000 individuals are without power. More storms are expected today, and city officials say that local dams are at risk of breaking.

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This is the most rain that the city has received at once since 2001’s Tropical Storm Allison. Rain is expected to continue through today, but will taper off after tonight.

“We are responding,” Turner said, “and we’ll continue to respond until every single person is in a safe and dry area.”