A 1,000-strong crowd have formed a makeshift shelter in the George R. Brown Convention Centre, Houston, to provide refuge from the serious flooding in the area caused by Tropical Storm Harvey.
The sprawling convention centre in central Houston is among almost three dozen Red Cross shelters in Texas prepared to house up to 28,000 people driven from their homes by the state’s most powerful hurricane in more than 50 years.
By Sunday evening, the convention centre was filled with chairs and cots being unfolded, the cries of babies and toddlers and instructions in English, Spanish and Vietnamese relayed by translators.
Storm refugees, many still in wet clothes, sprawled on chairs or formed long queues as shelter employees handed out diapers, food, water, clothes, books, games and other essentials.
Reuters reports that about 75 people were waiting with dogs and cats outside the centre, from which pets are banned, to have them taken to an animal shelter.
