HOUSTON, June 9 -- Flood leaves 10,000 homeless in Houston President Bush on Saturday declared the 28-county area of southeastern Texas a disaster area after flooding produced by the remnants of Tropical Storm Allison left nearly 10,000 people homeless in metropolitan Houston alone.
After four nights of heavy downpours, the city of Houston -- the nation's fourth-largest -- was soaked, with many major freeways and streets shut down by water or stalled vehicles. As of 4 p.m. local time, more than 28 inches of rain had fallen in the preceding 24 hours, flooding rivers and bayous.
"We have a very dangerous situation in our area," said Mayor Lee Brown. "We have major flooding on our roadways that's occurring in almost all our Houston metropolitan area. There are many roadways that are impassable."
Brown urged the public not to travel unless it's "an extreme emergency"
The mayor's request for an emergency declaration was approved by Gov. Rick Perry early Saturday and passed to Bush who quickly acted on the request from his ranch in Crawford, Texas -- 210 miles northwest of Houston -- where he was spending the weekend.
"The storms that have soaked southeast Texas have caused severe flooding and pose an imminent threat to thousands of residents," said Perry, who took over as governor after Bush left office to run for the presidency in 2000.
The governor has activated units of the Texas National Guard to assist authorities in southeastern Texas in aiding governments and flood victims in the area.
Brown said nearly 10,000 people were left homeless and 3,000 homes and businesses were affected by the flooding. In Harris County, which includes Houston, there were as many as 21,000 homes believed to be without power, according to County Judge Robert Eckels.
Volunteers with boats and canoes were aiding Houston firefighters in the rescue of people from flood homes and roof tops, as well as apartment buildings. Some apartment buildings were surrounded by water and parking lots with scores of cars were under water.
"There are thousands of people who are either out of their homes or affected in some way by this," said Red Cross spokeswoman Margaret O'Brien-Molina. "It's unbelievable. I've never seen it like this. We have had calls from people standing on their roofs."
So far there have been no deaths or serious injuries, she said.
Interstate 10 in Houston was closed by 18 huge semi-trailer trailers that were stranded by the high water.
"They look like Tinker Toys in a mud puddle," she said.
The Red Cross opened 16 shelters across the Houston area for people who could not return to their homes and needed food and housing.
Residents were being warned not to use the 911 emergency number unless it was a real emergency because the lines were swamped.
Tropical Storm Allison came ashore near Galveston late Tuesday and was downgraded early Wednesday to a tropical depression, but the pesky storm system has lingered in the Houston area since then, sending bursts of torrential rain through Houston.
Southeastern Louisiana has also been hard-hit by the storm, and Gov. Mike Foster has called out 10,000 National Guard troops there to assist people forced from their homes by the deluge. More than 15 inches has fallen in St. John the Baptist Parish alone in the past few days.
And it was not over yet, as the National Weather Service posted a flash flood watch for Saturday and more heavy rain was expected during the night. As of Saturday, Houston had nearly equaled it average rainfall total for the year of 46 inches.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami was also warning that if the system slides out into the Gulf of Mexico it could become a tropical depression or tropical storm once again.
