Hurricane Harvey: Massive clean up begins, 50 killed

More than 185,000 homes were damaged and 9,000 destroyed as 42,000 people remain in shelters amid overflowing rivers and reservoirs, Texas officials said.

Harvey wrecked water pumping stations in the city of Beaumont, about 100 miles east of Houston, leaving residents and hospitals without clean water.

Many remain trapped by debris and waist-high murk that carries a risk of disease. Amidst all this, death toll has reached 50, Houston Chronicle quoted local officials as saying.

Houston's two main airports have resumed limited service and traffic has begun trundling through dry, sunny streets, giving a sense of normality. But some 37,000 homes in the region were still without power, about half the number from Thursday, said mayor Sylvester Turner. He urged conventions and visitors to come. 

Turner said the US army corps of engineers needed to release water in reservoirs to create capacity lest more rain come and bring fresh disaster. He reiterated that people should not stay in their homes if they had water. Texas governor Greg Abbott said the recovery process would be long and arduous. 

Washington: The White House has sought a whopping USD 14 billion for the Hurricane Harvey relief work in the aftermath of the trail of devastation left by the most destructive storms in American history that claimed at least 50 lives. In a letter to Congress, the White House requested an initial USD 7.9 billion down payment toward Harvey relief and recovery efforts that will be quickly followed by a request for another USD 6.7 billion. "Prolonged high winds, storm surges, and torrential rains have contributed to unprecedented and widespread flooding that has upended the lives of residents and damaged more than 100,000 homes," the White House budget chief Mick Mulvaney said in his letter.