Rescuers comb floodwaters

Rescuers began a block-by-block search of tens of thousands of Houston homes Thursday, pounding on doors and shouting as they looked for anyone - alive or dead - who might have been left behind in Harvey's fetid floodwaters, which have now damaged more than 87,000 homes and destroyed nearly 7,000 statewide. Elsewhere, the loss of power at a flood-crippled chemical plant set off explosions and a fire, and the city of Beaumont, near the Texas-Louisiana line, lost its public water supply.

Hurricane Harvey Brings America Together Like 9/11

In awe at the destruction 50 inches of rain did to East Texas and our fourth-largest city and in admiration as cable television showed countless hours of Texans humanely and heroically rescuing and aiding fellow Texans in the worst natural disaster in U.S. history. Yet the destruction will not soon be repaired.

Blasts rock Texas chemical plant as Harvey danger moves east

Fires and two explosions rocked a flooded Houston-area chemical plant early Thursday, sending up a plume that federal authorities described as "incredibly dangerous" and adding a potential new hazard to the aftermath of Harvey. The blasts at the Arkema Inc. plant, about 25 miles northeast of Houston, also ignited a 30- to 40-foot flame.

‘Blasts’ at flooded chemical plant as Texas surveys storm wreckage

Two explosions were reported at a flooded Texas chemical plant near storm-battered Houston Thursday, just as the region began its slow recovery following Harvey's onslaught. Operators at the Arkema Inc facility said the Harris County Emergency Operations Center notified them at approximately 2:00am CDT , of "two explosions and black smoke" rising from the plant in Crosby, a town about 25 miles northeast of Houston.

Authorities brace for wave of hurricane-related fraud

As high water spreads from Houston through Texas and Louisiana, authorities are bracing for an inevitable wave of fraud and other criminal activity set into motion by Harvey's punishing rains. In a warning to those who would seek to defraud the government and people wanting to help or seeking assistance, a dozen federal and state agencies were banding together to investigate and prosecute wrongdoers.

How the Storms of “The Scottish Play” Inform Your Compliance Program

In honor of fellow Houstonians, fellow Texans and now our neighbors to the east in Louisiana, who have been impacted by Hurricane Harvey, I continue my weather themed week by considering how Shakespeare used weather as a metaphor and what the compliance practitioner can learn from this going forward. It occurred to me that if weather is a metaphor in fiction, it is based on some reality which I think can be used to instruct on a best practices compliance program.

Relief package for Texas reignites bitter feud with the north

Republicans from New York and New Jersey have pledged unconditional support for those devastated by Hurricane Harvey , despite lingering resentment. As historic floods wreaked havoc across the Gulf Coast, north-eastern Republicans recalled the days after Superstorm Sandy ravaged their region in 2012.

Trump’s Texas trip: As critics carp, he looks to be in charge

Donald Trump did what a president is supposed to do yesterday, visiting Corpus Christi for a briefing on hurricane relief efforts, talking up Texas and praising those on the front lines of the catastrophic flooding. As a levee was breached, reservoirs overflowed and Harvey dumped more rain on the battered Houston region, the president and his FEMA director demonstrated that the feds are coordinating with state and local officials in trying to aid the tens of thousands of displaced residents.

Exploiting Hurricane Harvey: Fiscal hawks fear big spenders will capitalize on Harvey relief bill

A $100 steak knife, a $600 filing cabinet, $300,000 in sports equipment and an $88,000 tactical combat vehicle may have nothing to do with Hurricane Katrina, but those items were paid for as part of a multibillion-dollar spending bill that Congress quickly passed after the 2005 storm, which has prompted lawmakers to become skeptical of disaster-relief bills. Twelve years later, with Hurricane Harvey still dumping water on flood-ravaged Houston, some are already worried that the next relief bill will pose the same problem: millions of dollars spent on wasteful or unrelated projects.

The Latest: Town scrubs game; football players clean school

Flooding in Houston coupled with Tropical Storm Harvey's outer rain bands heading east had emotions running high in New Orleans, especially among those whose homes flooded during Hurricane Katrina in 2005. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz says he won't second-guess the decision not to ask Houston residents to evacuate before Harvey hit the city with heavy rain and wind.

Harvey breaks rainfall records, spreads more disaster

People evacuate a neighborhood in west Houston inundated by floodwaters after a release from nearby Addicks Reservoir when it reached capacity Tuesday. more > Hurricane Harvey's rainfall topped 50 inches in some spots, setting a record for the continental U.S., as flooding reached more neighborhoods in Texas on Tuesday, forced further evacuations, spurred thousands of heroic rescues and stranded many more people.