Flooding in Houston following Hurricane Harvey. Photo / Gina Armstrong
Flooding in Houston following Hurricane Harvey. Photo / Gina Armstrong
Kiwis in Houston have been among the thousands stranded in their apartments and hotels in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey.
Gina and Col Armstrong arrived in Houston on Thursday night after a road trip around Texas and were due to fly back to Auckland on Saturday night but the arrival of the storm forced their flight to be cancelled.
Gina Armstrong said they had had two cancelled flights since then with the last Air New Zealand plane scheduled to land in Houston diverted to Los Angeles because of extensive flooding and road closures at George Bush Airport.
The hotel they had been in for about four nights, in the Galleria District near Buffalo Bayou, was surrounded by flooded freeways making it impossible to leave the area until now, she said.
Flooding in Houston following Hurricane Harvey. Photo / Gina Armstrong
This morning the pair managed to make it to the interstate and drive to San Antonio before the next bout of heavy rain hit.
"We're trying to head west away from Houston as our flight has been pushed out till Thursday - four days away still. They are predicting the water to go up higher with the next deluge coming," Armstrong said.
"For a massive city, everyone here is coming together and helping those in need. We've been well informed by media and local government and we haven't felt unsafe at anytime yet."
Auckland man Daniel Hamilton, who has been in Houston with his girlfriend for two months, said they had been trapped inside their apartment unable to go outside for the last four days.
"All the roads outside have been inaccessible. Some areas have had at least 8m of flooding."
He said helicopters had been rescuing people stuck in the middle of the flooding. The coastguard and others with small boats had been out helping people, he said.
Gina and Col Armstrong have been stranded in Houston because of flooding from Hurricane Harvey. Photo/Gina Armstrong
He said they had been advised to stay at home and wait for the flooding to subside.
"It was very stressful before the hurricane was about to come because we had to prepare - make sure we had enough food, water. Virtually every store in the area was selling out of water and food, mainly canned food."
He said there had been strong winds and tornado warnings over the last few nights which had been frightening.
"We had to go into our back room in our apartment away from our windows in case anything hits the windows," Hamilton said.
"It's been such a remarkable sight to see. Its just so flat and the water has nowhere to go. It just builds up to insane levels. Areas where I was just walking have at least 5m of water above."
