“A lot of people are frustrated,” Chief Acevedo said. “Hopefully today we’ll get to the rest of you. Please don’t give up on us. None of us are going to give up.” 
 
 In Houston, harrowing close calls shook many families. 
 
 Maya Wadler, 17, recalled the moments before she was rescued from her home Sunday around 4 a.m. The water, she said, “bubbled up from the doors, seeped in from the windows.” 
 
 “Everywhere you turned,” she said, “there would just be a new flowing puddle. It just kept filling. It passed the outlets. I was so scared. We didn’t know what would happen. And there is no one you can call.” 
 
 Ms. Wadler was eventually helped onto a dump truck driven by rescue workers. 
 
 “I was sitting in the corner holding my dad really tight,” she said. “I usually just trust my parents that everything is going to be O.K. But I looked up and I saw that my dad was closing his eyes, the water was getting in his eyes. And I just thought: He has absolutely no idea where we are going to go.” 
 
 For a vast swath of southeast Texas, there may be more trouble in the days ahead. The National Weather Service said the storm was expected to linger for a number of days. It predicted an additional 15 to 25 inches of rainfall along the upper Texas coast and southwest Louisiana through Friday. The service also raised the possibility of 50 inches of total rainfall in some areas, exceeding previous Texas records. 
 
 Flooding was reported in numerous communities in the Texas interior between Houston, to the east, and Austin and San Antonio, to the west. On Sunday, a mandatory evacuation order was issued for the city of La Grange, where the National Weather Service projected that the Colorado River would crest at 49.1 feet, according to the city’s website. 
 
 As inland communities struggled with the flooding crisis, coastal communities that took the brunt of the hurricane’s pounding remained punch-drunk. ||||| (CNN) Even as darkness fell and the waters kept rising, emergency officials in Houston continued fielding calls overnight from flood-stranded Texans. Thousands have been rescued so far, many are still waiting to picked up. 
 
 "The Coast Guard is continuing to receive upwards of 1,000 calls per hour," US Coast Guard Lt. Mike Hart said Monday. "Today alone, the Coast Guard has rescued over 3,000 people. That includes both air rescues and rescues using boats." 
 
 Since midnight Sunday, more than 2,300 calls have poured in to the Houston Fire Department, including 400 calls for rescue Monday afternoon, Houston officials said. Four people have died as a result of the catastrophic storm. 
 
 Houston police had rescued 1,000 people since Monday morning, bringing the total number rescued to more than 3,000 since the storm flooded the city, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner told reporters Monday night. 
 
 Live video from Houston showed rescuers in small boats on one flooded street carrying people to higher ground. 
 
 'They're panicking' 
 
 As Harvey dumped rain on East Texas and the waters rose, people started to panic, rushing rescue boats and even shooting at them if they didn't stop, said one volunteer rescuer. 
 
 Clyde Cain, of the Cajun Navy, a Louisiana-based rescue force that gained fame during Hurricane Katrina, said in one instance, a boat broke down, and while the crew sought shelter in a delivery truck, people tried to steal the inoperable boat. 
 
 "They're making it difficult for us to rescue them," he said. "You have people rushing the boat. Everyone wants to get in at the same time. They're panicking. Water is rising." 
 
 Because of the hostile responses, the Cajun Navy has been forced to halt some rescue attempts, Cain said. 
 
 "We have boats being shot at if we're not picking everybody up. We're having to pull out for a minute. We're dropping an airboat right now to go rescue a couple of our boats that broke, and they're kind of under attack," he said. 
 
 There is no indication the water will stop rising anytime soon. Swollen rivers in east Texas aren't expected to crest until later this week, and federal officials are already predicting the deadly Tropical Storm Harvey will drive 30,000 people into shelters and spur 450,000 victims to seek some sort of disaster assistance. 
 
 And yet, forecasters say, more rain is coming. Lots more. 
 
 President pledges 'rapid action from Congress' 
 
 President Trump said Monday the recovery from Hurricane Harvey will be "a long and difficult road," but predicted the country would emerge "bigger, better, stronger than ever before." Trump is scheduled to visit Texas on Tuesday. 
 
 Calling the storm a catastrophe in Southeast Texas, the President said, "We see neighbor helping neighbor, friend helping friend and stranger helping stranger. We are one American family. We hurt together, we struggle together and believe me, we endure together." 
 
 The President also said he believes Congress will act fast to provide disaster relief funding to the areas affected by Harvey. 
 
 "You're going to see very rapid action from Congress -- certainly from the President," Trump said. 
 
 Addressing Texans, he added: "We're going to get your funding." 
 
 Latest developments 
 
 -- About 8,000 people were estimated to be in Houston shelters Monday night, said Houston's mayor. About 5,000 were expected to be in the Houston Convention Center, he said. 
 
 -- The Galveston County Office of Emergency Management on Monday issued a mandatory evacuation order for Dickinson, Texas, according to spokeswoman Brittany Viegas. Dickinson is about 172 miles northeast of coastal Rockport. A dramatic photo circulating on the Internet showed residents of an assisted living facility in Dickinson being rescued on Sunday. 
 
 -- There have been four confirmed storm-related deaths, according to officials. Five other Harris County fatalities are suspected of being storm-related, according to Tricia Bentley, spokeswoman for the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences. The manners of death will be confirmed this week, she said. 
 
 -- The average annual rainfall in Houston is 50 inches. The city has seen 25 inches of rain in two days. Another 25 could fall by Saturday. 
 
 -- Several cities, including Katy, Alvin, Friendswood, League City, Pasadena, Pearland, Seabrook and Webster, have instituted curfews. 
 
 -- The Houston Independent School District has canceled school for the week for the district's 215,000 students. 
 
 -- Dallas is opening a "mega-shelter" at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, but Mayor Mike Rawlings said, "We may have thousands upon thousands upon thousands of more individuals that will get bigger than this convention center." 
 
 -- President Trump approved Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards ' request for an emergency declaration. The governor said in his request that he believes Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron, Jefferson Davis and Vermilion parishes will face the brunt of Harvey's winds and rain. The President said he will also visit Louisiana on Saturday. 
 
 -- Energy provider CenterPoint says 96% of its Houston customers have power, but more than 104,000 are without electricity as crews experience difficulty reaching affected areas. 
 
 -- The NFL said the Houston Texans' preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys, scheduled for Thursday in Houston, has been moved to the Cowboys' home stadium in Arlington, Texas. The MLB's Astros and the University of Houston and University of Texas football teams -- as well as Louisiana State University, which has a game scheduled Saturday in Houston -- all have practices or games this week and were monitoring the storm before deciding if they will play. 
 
 After checking the rain gauge, a new daily rainfall record was set at the NWS Office of 16.08" beating yesterday's record of 14.40" #houwx — NWS Houston (@NWSHouston) August 28, 2017 
 
 'Landmark event' 
 
 Several locales have received 2 feet or more of rain, and forecasters say a reprieve won't arrive until week's end at the earliest. By then, rain totals could reach another 2 feet -- with isolated instances of 40 to 50 more inches -- along the upper Texas coast. 
 
 "This is a landmark event for Texas," FEMA Administrator Brock Long said. "Texas has never seen an event like this." 
 
 Long said earlier that FEMA will likely be in Texas for years, and that Harvey will require one of the largest recovery housing efforts the nation has ever seen. 
 
 Harvey will likely surpass 2008's Hurricane Ike and 2001's Tropical Storm Allison, two of the most destructive storms to hit the Gulf Coast in recent memory, he said. Millions of people from Corpus Christi to New Orleans were under flood watches and warnings Monday as Harvey's storm bands repeatedly pummeled the same areas. 
 
 #Harvey is expected to retreat back to the Gulf of Mexico before heading back toward #Houston Wednesday. #txwx #TropicalStormHarvey pic.twitter.com/32RoWCover — CNN Weather Center (@CNNweather) August 27, 2017 
 
 For state and federal officials working to mitigate Harvey's devastation, one of the more frustrating aspects of the storm is uncertainty. 
 
 "The word catastrophic does not appropriately describe what we're facing," said US Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas. "We just don't know when it's going to end." 
 
 Early Monday, Harvey was barely clinging to tropical storm status, but the danger is far from over. The storm is forecast to head southeast toward the Matagorda Bay and Gulf of Mexico, where it will pick up additional moisture before sliding back over Galveston and Houston, cities it has already hammered. 
 
 The slow-moving nature of the storm -- it has traveled about 3 mph, human walking speed, since Friday's landfall -- has fueled the rain and flooding. Houston's William P. Hobby Airport recorded more than a foot of rain Saturday and 11 inches of rain Sunday, the two wettest days recorded since 1930. 
 
 Even when the rain is gone, dangers will persist, said National Weather Service Director Louis Uccellini, because "the flooding will be very slow to recede." 
 
 Finding a 'new normal' 
 
 JUST WATCHED Reporter: We almost left, but heard your voice Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Reporter: We almost left, but heard your voice 05:28 
 
 Citizens with boats assisted authorities in search and rescue efforts on Sunday, and at a Monday news conference, Long encouraged more citizens to come forward, saying the recovery efforts would require community involvement. He said the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster website would direct folks to religious and nongovernmental agencies through which residents can help victims, who, so far, span 30 to 50 counties. 
 
 "Donate your money. Figure out how you can get involved as we help Texas find a new normal." said Long, who was scheduled to arrive Monday in Corpus Christi. 
 
 One citizen answering the call is Jim McIngvale, who owns furniture stores in Houston and Richmond. He opened his doors to evacuees on Sunday and provided 600 people a place to sleep. 
 
 "We have tons of mattresses in our warehouse and we can provide them with a blanket," he told CNN. "We have a restaurant inside the stores, and we are and we are feeding them for free." 
 
 Aaron Mitchell of Aransas Pass, appeared shell-shocked as he recounted riding out the storm in his mobile home, which he said "felt like 'The Wizard of Oz,' man." He had walked 12 miles to find his father in Rockport, to no avail. 
 
 Though he has no intention of leaving the place he calls home, he second-guessed his decision not to evacuate, he said. 
 
 "I just lost everything I worked for. Everything," he said. "I don't know. Maybe I should've left." 
 
 (After his interview, Mitchell reached his father via telephone and, in tears, told him, "OK, Dad, I'm going to jump on a bus. I'll be there.") 
 
 Houston resident Louise Walker also chose to brave Harvey's wrath, leaving her trapped in a neighbor's apartment. 
 
 "Our bottom level is waist-deep in water," she said. "We have people who are living in these first-floor apartments, like I have. They have been breaking into empty second-level apartments just to have somewhere to go," she said. 
 
 State, local and military rescue units have plucked thousands of stranded residents from the water and deluged homes. "None of us (is) going to give up," Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said, reassuring residents. 
 
 In Harris County, authorities asked stranded people to hang sheets or towels from their residences, so rescuers could spot them more easily. 
 
 IMPORTANT: If you are awaiting rescue, hang a towel or sheet prominently so we can find you. Adresses are hard to spot. #harvey #hounews — HCSOTexas (@HCSOTexas) August 28, 2017 
 
 The Pentagon is also identifying resources, including trucks, aircraft and troops, that can be dispatched for hurricane relief if the request comes, defense officials said, and Gov. Greg Abbott has activated the entire Texas National Guard, roughly 12,000 Guardsmen, he said Monday. 
 
 Dam releases 
 
 JUST WATCHED Harvey brings 'life-threatening' flooding Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Harvey brings 'life-threatening' flooding 02:22 
 
 The US Army Corps of Engineers began releasing water from the Addicks and Barker dams in west Houston early Monday, said Jeff Linder, Harris County flood control district meteorologist. 
 
 "The rationale is it is better to start with controlled releases using the outlet structures than to allow uncontrolled release to go over the edge of the dam. So we have more capability to control the downstream effects," said Edmond Russo with the US Army Corps of Engineers. 
 
 In Conroe, an hour's drive north of Houston, record levels of water are also being released from Lake Conroe Dam. The city will be evacuating some neighborhoods as a result. 
 
 Residents living along the Brazos River in Fort Bend County were ordered to evacuate after the National Weather Service predicted river levels of 56.1 feet, nearly 2 feet above the record during flooding last year. 
 
 Tyler County, north of Beaumont, also issued a mandatory evacuation order for all "low-lying and flood-prone areas." 
 
 A mandatory evacuation has been ordered for people in low lying flood prone areas of Tyler County. #TX36 pic.twitter.com/xUTuVjhRX6 — Brian Babin (@RepBrianBabin) August 28, 2017 
 
 South of Houston, in Brazoria County, officials set up an evacuation route for at-risk residents, ordering them to "LEAVE NOW!" Those in need of shelter can take refuge in the Bell County Expo Center in Belton, officials said. 
 
 The state of roads -- particularly interstates 10, 45 and 610 in Houston -- left many residents stranded. Much of that is due to flooding from the White Oak Bayou, which rose more than 20 feet in four hours Sunday. 
 
 CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified the Dallas mayor. He is Mike Rawlings. 
 
 CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported that the Addicks and Barker dams are in Galveston. They are in west Houston. 
 
 This story has been updated to clarify the number of confirmed and unconfirmed deaths attributed to the storm. ||||| ORANGE, Texas/HOUSTON (Reuters) - Rescuers searched painstakingly through flooded neighborhoods across southeastern Texas on Friday for people stranded by Hurricane Harvey’s deluge as President Donald Trump asked Congress for $7.85 billion in federal disaster relief. 
 
 The storm, one of the costliest to hit the United States, has displaced more than 1 million people, with 50 feared dead from flooding that paralyzed Houston, swelled river levels to record highs and knocked out the drinking water supply in Beaumont, Texas, a city of 120,000 people. 
 
 The Trump administration in a letter to Congress asked for a $7.85 billion appropriation for response and initial recovery efforts. White House homeland security adviser Tom Bossert told reporters on Thursday aid funding requests would come in stages as more became known about the impact of the storm. 
 
 Texas Governor Greg Abbott has said that his state may need more than $125 billion. 
 
 Bossert said the Trump administration wanted Congress to pass the disaster relief measure on its own and not add it to other measures, such as the effort to raise the debt ceiling. 
 
 The U.S. government has a statutory limit on how much money it can borrow to cover the budget deficit that results from Washington spending more than it collects in taxes. Only Congress can raise that limit. 
 
 Trump plans a second visit to the region on Saturday. 
 
 Though the sun was out in Houston on Friday and water levels down in many areas, Mayor Sylvester Turner called for voluntary evacuations on the city’s west side. He said already-flooded neighborhoods there may be in greater danger as the Army Corps of Engineers continues to release water into the adjacent Buffalo Bayou to prevent dam and levee failures. 
 
 About 80 miles (130 km) to the east, the Neches River, which flows into Beaumont and nearby Port Arthur, was forecast to crest early on Saturday well above flood levels, the National Weather Service said. 
 
 “It (the Neches River) is about 7 feet (2.1 meters) above the record and it will continue to remain at or be near that high for about the next week. This flooding poses an ongoing threat,” Texas Governor Abbott told reporters. 
 
 Rescue officials were still working to determine the scope of flooding, said Rodney Smith, deputy chief of the Cedar Hill, Texas, Fire Department. 
 
 The storm’s impact played out in ways large and small, a full week after Hurricane Harvey slammed into the Texas coast Friday night as the strongest hurricane to hit the state in more than 50 years. 
 
 At the Hollywood Community Cemetery in Orange, floodwaters had caused three coffins to pop out of concrete vaults. One belonged to Dewey Mosby, who died in 2003 at the age of 82. 
 
 “He won’t stay put,” said Ron Kendall, 63, who helps maintain the cemetery and said he knew Mosby well in life. Kendall had helped direct Mosby’s coffin back to its resting place after the 2008 floods from Hurricane Ike and again during floods in 2016. 
 
 “Everybody knows where Mr. Mosby goes now because he always comes up,” Kendall said. 
 
 Nancy McBride is carried out of her flooded home by volunteer Cody Collinsworth, after returning home for the first time since Harvey floodwaters arrived in Houston, Texas September 1, 2017. REUTERS/Rick Wilking 
 
 BURNING CHEMICALS 
 
 At chemical maker Arkema SA, a fire started on Thursday in a truck storing chemicals at a flooded plant east of Houston had burned itself out by Friday. But more blasts were likely in eight other trucks storing the same chemicals.. 
 
 Meanwhile a new storm, Irma, had strengthened on Friday into a Category 3 on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale. It remained hundreds of miles from land but was forecast to possibly hit Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Haiti by the middle of next week. 
 
 Harvey, which lingered around the Gulf of Mexico Coast for days, dumped unprecedented amounts of rain and left devastation across more than 300 miles (480 km) of the state’s coast. 
 
 A list of the dead put out by Harris County painted a grim picture of the storm’s brutality, describing bodies found floating face down in floodwaters, lying in ditches or across fences. Many were unidentified. 
 
 The storm shut about a fourth of U.S. refinery capacity, much of which is clustered along the Gulf Coast, and caused gasoline prices to spike to a two-year high ahead of the long Labor Day holiday weekend. 
 
 The national average for a gallon of regular gasoline has risen 17 cents since the storm struck, hitting $2.519 as of Friday morning, according to motorists group AAA. 
 
 Supply concerns prompted the U.S. Energy Department to authorize the release of up to 4.5 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. 
 
 Several East Coast refineries have run out of gasoline, raising fears that travelers will face fuel shortages during the three-day holiday. 
 
 In Texas cities including Dallas, there were long lines at gas stations. Abbott said the state was taking steps to ensure adequate supplies, adding: “Don’t worry. We will not run out of gasoline.” 
 
 Slideshow (17 Images) 
 
 Harvey came on the 12th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, which killed about 1,800 around New Orleans. Then-U.S. President George W. Bush’s administration was roundly criticized for its botched early response to the storm. 
 
 “The people of Texas and Louisiana were hit very hard by a historic flood and their response taught us all a lesson, a very, very powerful lesson,” Trump said. “There was an outbreak of compassion only ... and it really inspired us as a nation.” 
 
 Some 440,000 Texans have already applied for federal financial disaster assistance, and some $79 million has been approved so far, Abbott said. 
 
 (For a graphic on Harvey's energy impact, click: tmsnrt.rs/2evXAus) ||||| A family evacuates their Meyerland home in Houston, Sunday, Aug. 27, 2017. Rescuers answered hundreds of calls for help Sunday as floodwaters from the remnants of Hurricane Harvey rose high enough to... (Associated Press) 
 
 HOUSTON (AP) — The Latest on Tropical Storm Harvey (all times local): 
 
 4:25 a.m. 
 
 Harvey continues to head back toward the Gulf of Mexico at a slow pace. 
 
 The National Hurricane Center says in its 4 a.m. CDT update that the tropical storm which made landfall late Friday as a Category 4 hurricane and has lingered dropping heavy rain in the Houston area still has sustained winds of up to 40 mph (65 kmh) and is centered 20 miles east of Victoria, Texas, about 120 miles (193 km) southwest of Houston. It continues to creep to the southeast at 3 mph (6 kmh). 
 
 That means it remains virtually stalled near the coast and continues to drop heavy rain on the Houston and Galveston areas. In the past 48 hours, numerous spots in the region have measured more than 25 inches of rainfall. 
 
 The hurricane center says Harvey's center was expected to drift off the middle Texas coast on Monday and meander offshore through Tuesday before beginning "a slow northeastward motion." The center says those in the upper Texas coast and in southwestern Louisiana should continue to monitor Harvey's progress. 
 
 ___ 
 
 3:38 a.m. 
 
 Houston officials continue to urge people to shelter in place and stay off flooded roadways as Harvey continues to batter the nation's fourth-largest city. 
 
 Public Information Officer Keith Smith also says Sunday that rescue efforts continue and now are focused on those who feel trapped inside a home or building. 
 
 Smith says the city's 911 emergency response system has been challenged by sharply increased call volumes since the tropical storm made landfall late Friday as a Category 4 hurricane. He says during a typical 24-hour period, the emergency response system receives about 8,000 calls. But during a 17-hour period following Harvey's landfall, more than 56,000 911 calls were received. 
 
 ___ 
 
 2:11 a.m. 
 
 As the nation's fourth-largest city braced for more rain and rescues, officials started releasing even more water from reservoirs overwhelmed by Harvey even though the move aimed at protecting downtown Houston could make already devastating flooding worse around thousands of homes. 
 
 The strategic engineering move began early Monday. Harvey, which made landfall late Friday as a Category 4 hurricane and has lingered dropping heavy rain as a tropical storm, sent devastating floods pouring into Houston Sunday as rising water chased thousands of people to rooftops or higher ground and overwhelmed rescuers who could not keep up with the constant calls for help. 
 
 Jeff Lindner, a meteorologist for the Harris County Flood Control District, says residents affected by the release should pack what's needed and leave when the sun comes up. ||||| Massive flooding caused by Tropical Storm Harvey along Texas' refinery-rich coast could have long-standing and far-reaching consequences for the state's oil and gas industry and the larger U.S. economy. The storm's remnants left much of Houston underwater on Sunday, and the National Weather Service says it's not over yet: Some parts of Houston and its suburbs could end up with as much as 50 inches (1.3 meters) of rain. 
 
 With the heavy precipitation expected to last for days, it's still unclear how bad the damage will be, but there is already evidence of widespread losses. Key oil and gas facilities along the Texas Gulf Coast have temporarily shut down, and flooding in the Houston and Beaumont areas could seriously pinch gasoline supplies. Companies operating in the Gulf of Mexico have evacuated drilling platforms and rigs, crimping the flow of oil and gas. 
 
 Experts believe gasoline prices could increase as much as 25 cents a gallon. 
 
 Harvey's toll on air travel in the U.S. is set to extend into Monday, with the tracking service FlightAware.com reporting that more than 1,400 flights already have been canceled. That's in addition to more than 2,000 canceled over the weekend. 
 
 Economy watchers were looking to oil futures markets Sunday night and stock trading in the U.S. Monday morning for further indications of fallout. 
 
 Here's what was known as of Sunday night: 
 
 REFINERIES 
 
 Nearly a third of U.S. refining capacity sits in low-lying areas along the coast from Corpus Christi, Texas, to Lake Charles, Louisiana. Beyond the shutdown of refineries at risk of a direct strike from high winds, there's the threat of flooding and potential power outages for gasoline supplies. 
 
 Refinery outages continued to spread Sunday, with about 2.2 million barrels per day of refining capacity down or being brought down, according to analysts at S&P Global. 
 
 Valero Energy Corp., whose two big Corpus Christi refineries escaped damage, said it was working with federal and Texas agencies and its business partners to determine what infrastructure was needed to resume refinery operations. 
 
 Even before Harvey hit, the prospect of supply disruptions sent gasoline futures to $1.74 a gallon, their highest level since April, before they retreated to around $1.67 by Friday afternoon. At the pump, experts see gasoline increasing 10 cents to 25 cents a gallon. 
 
 Given the strictures faced by the refineries, "This is the dominoes starting to fall," Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst for Gas Buddy, said Sunday. "This is sort of slowly turning out to be the worst-case scenario." 
 
 ___ 
 
 OIL AND GAS 
 
 Companies have evacuated workers from oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. The U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said Sunday that workers had been removed from 105 of the 737 manned platforms used to pump oil and gas from beneath the Gulf. 
 
 The agency estimated that platforms accounting for about 22 percent of oil production and 26 percent of natural gas output in the Gulf had been shut down. 
 
 "After the storm has passed, facilities will be inspected," the agency said in a news release. "Once all standard checks have been completed, production from undamaged facilities will be brought back on line immediately. Facilities sustaining damage may take longer to bring back on line." 
 
 ___ 
 
 SHIPPING 
 
 The shipping industry also is expected to be disrupted by the worst hurricane to hit the Texas coast in more than 50 years. Shipping terminals along the Texas coast shut down as the storm approached. Port operations in Corpus Christi and Galveston closed, and the port of Houston said container terminals and general cargo facilities closed around midday Friday. 
 
 Rates increased for carrying freight between the Gulf and the U.S. East Coast. 
 
 ___ 
 
 TRAVEL 
 
 More than 1,400 flight cancellations are reported for Monday, according to FlightAware. 
 
 Houston's two airports were closed to all flights except those connected to relief efforts. Houston Bush Intercontinental Airport was not expected to reopen Monday until noon at the earliest. Houston International Airport was scheduled to remain closed until Wednesday morning. 
 
 Airlines were offering customers the chance to reschedule trips that would take them to Houston, San Antonio or Austin from Friday through the weekend. 
 
 ___ 
 
 UTILITIES 
 
 Researchers at Texas A&M University estimated that the storm would knock out power for at least 1.25 million people in Texas. They said the hardest-hit areas will include Corpus Christi, which is on the coast, and San Antonio, which is about 140 miles (225 kilometers) inland. 
 
 ___ 
 
 INSURANCE 
 
 A firm that does forecasts for insurance companies expects wind-damage claims in the low billions of dollars, and possibly reaching as high as $6 billion. 
 
 Risk Management Solutions Inc. said storm surges and inland flooding could be an even bigger source of losses. If the firm is correct, that would put homeowners and the government-backed National Flood Insurance Program at risk. 
 
 The flood program is run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which owes the Treasury about $23 billion in funds borrowed to cover the cost of past disasters, according to a recent report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office. 
 
 Homeowner policies offered by insurance companies typically don't cover flood damage, yet a relatively small percentage of homeowners have flood insurance through the federal program. 
 
 Property data firm CoreLogic estimated that insured losses for home and commercial properties, as of Friday, would be $1 billion to $2 billion from wind and storm- surge damage. ||||| In downtown Houston the Buffalo Bayou resembled a raging river on Thursday night after days of rain from Hurricane Harvey. 
 
 HOUSTON - While the water is receding in some parts of Harris County, that's not the case along the Buffalo Bayou. Underneath Interstate 45 in downtown Houston, it resembles a raging river. 
 
 The bayou is above it's all-time peak of 61.2 feet and has hit 62.7 feet. 
 
 Friday morning, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner issued voluntary evacuation orders for west Houston residents who already have water in their homes. 
 
 Harris County Flood Control District says it will be like that for some time as water from the Addicks reservoir flushes into Buffalo Bayou. Officials estimate the situation could remain like this for up to two weeks as they drain Addicks. 
 
 The water levels at the Addicks and Barker reservoirs have crested, meaning officials do not expect conditions there to worsen. 
 
 The Army Corps of Engineers is still discharging water into the surrounding area, Harris County Flood Control District meteorologist Jeff Lindner said in a press conference on Thursday morning. 
 
 RESOURCE: Evacuation list 
 
 By Thursday evening, officials said Barker was 80 percent full and Addicks was about 100 percent full. 
 
 Since both levels of the reservoir have peaked, Lindner expects no additional structure flooding. He also said conditions along the Buffalo Bayou are not expected to worsen, but they aren't expected to improve. The bayou held steady overnight, Lindner said. 
 
 Lindner also addressed rumors regarding the dam at the reservoirs, stressing that there is no damage. He said the dam is operating exactly as designed. 
 
 The watershed has accumulated 35 inches of rain since Harvey started. The Addicks reservoir continues to release 7,000 CFS while Barker sits at a rate of 6,300. Those discharge rates are expected to continue for the next few days, mostly affecting the Kingwood area. 
 
 Lindner also elaborated on the mandatory evacuation that was established for residents within the Barker community overnight. Many residents were left confused and concerned if their homes would see more flooding. 
 
 Officials say the mandatory evacuation was implemented to keep people from returning to their homes. 
 
 Both reservoir outlet gates are open and releasing storm water into Buffalo Bayou. House flooding is occurring in adjacent neighborhoods, and roadways that run through the reservoirs are underwater. 
 
 Some 3,000 homes near Addicks reservoir and 1,000 homes near Barker are inundated due to water release, Lindner said Wednesday morning. 
 
 After an area of the levee eroded on Wednesday morning, officials enforced mandatory evacuations for residents in the Cyprus Creek/Inverness Forest subdivision. Officials said a breach is not likely, but possible. 
 
 A portion of the levee eroded after water came over the top of the intake system. Several agencies worked on Wednesday to remedy the situation by bringing sand to the area. 
 
 Addicks reservoir rose quicker than forecasted and threatened the storage capacity, Edmond Rosso with Army Corps Engineer explained. Barker's gates, on the other hand, were opened in a slower manner. 
 
 While the rain has stopped from Harvey, water levels will continue to rise in neighborhoods near the Addicks and Barker reservoirs as water is released from both, Harris County Flood Control District meteorologist Jeff Lindner told KHOU Tuesday night. 
 
 “We just don’t know exactly how this is going to play out because its never happened before," Lindner said. 
 
 "There is a lot of complex hydrology taking place, there’s buildings, there’s neighborhoods, there’s retention basins. Underground, roadways, so we’re just going to have to see how it works. Once it gets down to Rumble Creek, it gets simpler, it goes into the creek, then into the (Buffalo) bayou.” 
 
 Early Tuesday morning Addicks flowed over the spillway. Officials had started to release water from both reservoirs early Monday in an effort to prevent uncontrolled releases at the spillways. However, officials warned that there was potential for uncontrolled releases at the Addicks spillway once the pool level reaches 108 feet. That level is 104 feet for Barker. These releases will continue until Sept. 20. 
 
 “That’s what happens when you have this amount of rain in this amount of time,” Lindner said. 
 
 Lindner wanted to emphasize that there was not a breach in the dam on the north end of Addicks, as some people believe. "The integrity of the dams is in fine shape....there is no potential damage to the north end." 
 
 Officials stated earlier in the week that the following subdivisions would be affected by the north end of Addicks: 
 
 Twin lakes 
 
 Eldridge Park 
 
 Lakes on Eldrige 
 
 Independence Farms 
 
 Tanner Heights 
 
 Heritage Business Park 
 
 Neighborhood list at risk of flooding from Addicks and Barker was reviewed and DO NOT have changes. List posted at https://t.co/69UGYcDoRn pic.twitter.com/YHytLuy4ND — HCFCD (@hcfcd) August 29, 2017 
 
 Residents adjacent to Addicks and Barker reservoirs are being asked to take the following precautions: . 
 
 • Avoid driving, if possible, especially into water of unknown depth 
 
 • Remain in your home unless advised to evacuate by local officials 
 
 • Restrict children from playing in flooded areas 
 
 • Secure valuables 
 
 These are the neighborhoods that may be impacted by the water being released from the Addicks and Barker Reservoirs #khou11 pic.twitter.com/ClnNsJcFzq — Erika Ferrando THV11 (@ErikaFerrandoTV) August 28, 2017 
 
 This was the first time officials did a release while it was still raining. Officials say they have dam safety experts monitoring the releases around the clock. 
 
 RELATED: 
 
 LIST: Harvey shelters around Houston area 
 
 © 2018 KHOU-TV ||||| Heavy rains return Sunday night, force series of evacuations 
 
 Heavy rainfall between 3 to 4 inches Sunday night forced regional authorities to issue a series of mandatory and voluntary evacuations, asking residents in impacted areas to leave overnight or early Monday morning. 
 
 The lingering rains left by the remnants of Hurricane Harvey returned by 9 p.m. with portions of west and central Harris County experiencing unprecedented flooding, according to the National Weather Service. 
 
 The threat of structural damage, a bridge collapsing and levees overflowing have officials worried that more residents will become trapped by the storm if they don't take action. 
 
 DAM OPENED: Army Corps of Engineers has begun releasing water from Addicks 
 
 The weather service issued a flash flood watch for the region late Sunday, lasting through 
 
 Wednesday or possibly Thursday. 
 
 The service noted that "epic and catastrophic flooding" that had occurred in and around the 
 
 Houston and Galveston areas and surrounding communities could get worse as additional life-threatening rainfall totals of 15 to 25 inches with isolated higher amount were possible over the next several days. 
 
 "If these amounts materialize, the results could be devastating, especially if any of these rains fall where catastrophic flooding has already occurred," according to the weather service. 
 
 The first of several voluntary evacuations came Sunday afternoon when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers expressed concerns over the amount of water Addicks and Barker reservoirs were absorbing from Fort Bend and northern Harris County rivers and stream. 
 
 HARVEY'S IMPACT: Evacuations, economic impacts, alerts 
 
 After Hurricane Harvey - later downgraded to a tropical storm - hit Houston heavy rains caused the dams to swell and spill over into communities upstream. 
 
 Jeff Lindner, a meteorologist with the Harris County Flood Control District, suggested that if residents decide to leave, they should do it by Monday morning. Thousands of homes could be at risk, he said. 
 
 Hours later, weather officials expected Cypress Creek near Interstate 45 to top the levee by Monday morning, impacting nearly 200 homes. 
 
 Harris County Flood Control officials issued a voluntary evacuation advisory for residents of the Inverness Forest subdivision for all streets north of Whitestone Lane, including East and West Greenbrook Drive and Kenchester drive. 
 
 In Conroe, the San Jacinto Water Authority released record amounts of water from the Lake Conroe Dam, prompting the city of Conroe to call for immediate evacuations from McDade Estates and other neighborhoods affected by the release of the water just before 2 a.m. Monday. 
 
 RESERVOIR RELEASE: Addicks and Barker to flow into Buffalo Bayou 
 
 Spring Creek, running along north Harris and south Montgomery counties, was in major flood stage Sunday evening and was expected to crest late Monday, putting residents of more than two dozen neighborhoods in The Woodlands and Spring areas on either side of I-45 at risk. 
 
 Montgomery County officials asked residents in flood-prone areas near the creek to consider safely evacuating Sunday afternoon. 
 
 In Rosenberg, residents of homes on Huntington Road near the Brazos River were ordered to evacuate due to fears that the bridge leading out of the community would fail. 
 
 Fort Bend County Judge Robert Hebert issued a mandatory evacuation order for low-lying parts of the county near the Brazos River that were affected by the Memorial Day floods in 2016. The order applies to about 50,000 people. Additional voluntary evacuations in the county for residents who could be stuck in their homes for multiple days could bring the total number of evacuees from Fort Bend to 130,000, or about 20 percent of the county's total population. 
 
 To find out if you are in the evacuation zones, look here. 
 
 This story is developing.
– The tropical storm formerly known as Hurricane Harvey is continuing to cause massive flooding in Texas, and analysts say the state's oil and gas industry has been hit very hard. Almost a third of US refining capacity is in the affected coastal areas, and experts say closures due to flooding could pinch the gas supply, sending prices up as much as 25 cents a gallon. "This is the dominoes starting to fall," a GasBuddy petroleum analyst tells the AP. "This is sort of slowly turning out to be the worst-case scenario." In other developments: Dams opened. The US Army Corps of Engineers opened the Addicks and Barker flood-control dams on the western outskirts of Houston overnight in a controlled release to prevent uncontrollable flooding of downtown Houston, KHOU reports. Thousands of nearby residents were advised to pack their bags overnight and leave their homes Monday morning. Evacuations. A series of voluntary and mandatory evacuation orders were issued in the Houston region Sunday night as several more inches of rain fell on the area, reports the Houston Chronicle. Officials warn that possible structural damage, including bridge collapses and levee overflows, could leave residents trapped by the storm. The storm is expected to keep dumping rain on the area for days, bringing the total to over 50 inches in some areas. National Guard. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced Sunday night that 1,000 more National Guard troops are being activated to deal with flooding in Houston, CNN reports. The governor plans to tour hard-hit coastal counties Monday with Sen. John Cornyn. "Most devastating." The floods, described as "catastrophic and life-threatening" by the National Weather Service, are the worst on record and are set to get even worse in the days to come. "What we're seeing is the most devastating flood event in Houston's recorded history," a meteorologist tells Reuters. The storm has already caused at least five deaths. Stalled. In a 4am CDT update, the National Hurricane Center said the storm is now centered 120 miles southwest of Houston and is moving southeast at just 3mph, leaving it "virtually stalled" near the coast, the AP reports. "We'll get through." Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo, whose force used motorboats and airboats to rescue at least 2,000 people Sunday, urged Texans to stay strong, reports the New York Times. "It's sad," he said. "It breaks your heart for our city and our state. But it's Texas. We'll get through."