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Screengrab via Fox News/YouTube

Houston flood victims desperately turn to social media for emergency rescue

Countless people are desperately in need of aid.

 

Chris Tognotti

IRL

Posted on Aug 27, 2017   Updated on May 22, 2021, 7:14 pm CDT

Amid the disastrous impact of Hurricane Harvey this weekend, local police departments and emergency responders in the state of Texas―specifically the greater Houston area―have been stretched to the limit by the historic floods. For example, the Dickinson Police Department Facebook page is inundated with comments from people in desperate need, requesting aid from local law enforcement as they contend with the widespread flooding and damage caused by the storm.

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Screengrab via Dickinson Police Department/YouTube

The comments in the thread underscore the severity and urgency of the situation, with dozens of residents of the Galveston County city requesting aid, often listing specific addresses of locations where people require emergency services.

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Screengrab via Dickinson Police Department/YouTube
In Body Image
Screengrab via Dickinson Police Department/YouTube
In Body Image
Screengrab via Dickinson Police Department/YouTube

Some residents have also turned to Twitter, sending out addresses in the hopes of alerting local authorities where to go. Catastrophic flooding throughout the greater Houston area has left countless homes and families in dire straits, desperately requiring emergency aid.

https://twitter.com/priincessxochi/status/901842596586291201

https://twitter.com/BasedMegan/status/901822115019714567

As it stands now, the greater Houston area has reportedly absorbed 24 inches of rainfall in the last 24 hours, and some experts predict that number could rise to 50 inches throughout the week, as the flooding is expected to continue for days.

On Sunday, a nursing home in Dickinson—which was one of the addresses posted on the Dickinson Police Facebook page—successfully evacuated, with 15 senior citizens rescued from waters that were rising up to their chests. A picture taken from within the home prior to the rescue showed just how dire the circumstances were.

https://twitter.com/citizenservant/status/901836806240444416

In short, the circumstances across the upper and middle Texas coast are truly dire, and with the flooding expected to continue through Thursday, the demand on emergency services is likely to remain high. Thousands of rescue calls have reportedly already been placed, as the storm has uniquely preyed on some of the poorest and most vulnerable of Texans.

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*First Published: Aug 27, 2017, 1:53 pm CDT