Houston water reservoirs overflowing amid floods

Houston reservoirs that have contained heavy rains from Tropical Storm Harvey are starting to overflow, forcing authorities to release more water into the city's swollen drainage system to alleviate pressure on two dams, Harris County officials said yesterday.

County officials are monitoring six neighborhoods around the reservoirs and encouraged residents in those areas to evacuate before the water levels rise.

The releases will add to flooding in areas close to Buffalo Bayou, which flows through the center of Houston, said Jeff Linder of Harris County's flood control district. The downtown has not flooded yet.

The controlled releases to ease pressure on the dams have so far not added a significant amount of water to already overflowing Houston rivers, Linder said. But continued rain has complicating efforts to distribute flood waters in a controlled way, reported Reuters.

"This is something we've never seen before," he said. "We have uncertainty in how the water is going to react," when releases from the reservoirs hit overflowing drainage.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump was expected to arrive in Texas yesterday, aiming to show unity in the face of what he called the "terrible tragedy" wrought by monster storm Harvey's devastating rains.

But the US president and his wife Melania are not expected to visit Houston, America's fourth largest city where rescuers are scrambling to reach hundreds of stranded people as Harvey appeared poised to strike again, reported AFP.

They will instead make stops further west, including hard-hit Corpus Christi, for briefings on relief efforts after catastrophic flooding crippled southeastern parts of the vast state.