NPR

'The Goal Is Rescue': The Massive Response To Harvey, By The Numbers

The Federal Emergency Management Agency expects 450,000 people to seek help — including over 30,000 needing shelter. But as floodwaters rise, those aren't the only numbers defining the rescue efforts.
Volunteers and neighborhood security patrol officers help rescue residents after Hurricane Harvey doused Houston with several feet of water over the weekend.

Updated at 4 p.m. ET

Just days into one of the biggest storms to hit the U.S. in decades, authorities have rescued thousands of people in Houston alone. And as floodwaters from Hurricane Harvey, now a tropical storm, continue to rise across southeast Texas and neighboring Louisiana, officials expect that still thousands more evacuees will need to be sheltered in the days to come.

Several deaths have been reported, but the exact number remains unclear. A spokesperson with the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences told NPR six deaths are suspected of being related to flooding, though final determinations will not be made until

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