Hurricane Harvey • Latest List Of Must-Know Facts

HOUSTON, TX — Houstonians isolated for days by massive flooding produced by Hurricane Harvey are venturing out of their houses, but the situation in southeast Texas is still very much an emergency, as crews pluck people from rooftops. The storm made landfall last Friday, Aug. 25, and battered the Texas and Louisiana coasts in the days following with the highest single-storm rainfall total in North America.

(For more hurricane news or local news from Houston, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Houston Patch, and click here to find your local Texas Patch. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

Here is a look at your latest must-know facts.

• One of Harvey's most dramatic scenes: Three people helping with rescues, two of them journalists, clung to a tree for life for 18 straight hours after they were trapped in Houston's Greens Bayou.
• Pets swim out of flood and into America's heart: See the photo gallery and what animal lovers around the country are doing to help.
• Harvey messed with Texas, but Texas fights back: Here's the latest on the situation in Houston with updates from Mayor Sylvester Turner and other officials.
• 27 trillion gallons of rain: Here's an updated look at historic Hurricane Harvey's wrath, by the numbers.
• No flood insurance: Recovery will be difficult for homeowners without flood insurance — and there are a lot of them.
• Irma is brewing, and she looks mean: Another monster storm is barreling toward the Caribbean Sea and United States coast. The final destination is unknown, but the Harvey-battered Gulf Coast isn't out of the realm of possibility.
• Harvey, Illinois, shows Harvey victims love: You'll smile when you read about the gesture by a city in Illinois that feels a special kinship to Harvey survivors.
• What does delayed school start mean? If schools can't open before Sept. 11, new rules apply.
• About those alligator warnings: Texas game wardens got more than they bargained for.
• About that gasoline shortage you've heard about: Social media is peppered with chatter about the gasoline shortage, but should you believe it?
• Mayor gets stern with hold-outs: Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said hold-outs in flooded homes are putting a strain on emergency response.
• Beaumont, Port Arthur struggle a second day: Get the latest on the flooding situation in southeast Texas.
• Rethinking Red Cross donations: The American Red Cross has long been the go-to relief organization, but that's changing. Read the story to find out why.
• Huge hurricane relief donation: Round Rock-based Dell Technologies gave the Harvey relief fund a big boost.
• On Capitol Hill, the math is fuzzy: The president's promise of a "better-than-ever" recovery from Harvey and his hiring and budget plans don't seem to be aligned.
• Hurricane Harvey In Louisiana: These areas are still flooding.
• Diverted cruise ships reach port: Two Carnival Cruise ships sent to New Orleans to wait out the storm sailed again.
• Evacuations still occurring south of Houston: The Brazos River has yet to crest, and some communities south of the metro Houston area are still under mandatory and voluntary evacuation.
• Scammers are aiming at your wallet: Scammers preying on vulnerable flood victims are finding opportunity as recovery begins.
• Beaumont, Port Arthur still in crisis: There’s no clear timetable for when residents of Beaumont will get water back. The water is still rising in both Beaumont and Port Arthur.
• Harvey’s death toll continues to rise: At least 47 people have died in the catastrophic flooding in Harvey’s wake.
• Houston is open for business: Houston is coming back to life, but a door-to-door search continues as the nation’s fourth-largest city shifts into recovery mode.
• Chemical fire burns out: A fire at a plant that makes highly unstable liquid plastics burned out.
• School start delayed again: The first day of school in Houston has been delayed. In Rockport, where Harvey made landfall as a Category 4 storm on Aug. 25, opening day has been delayed indefinitely.
• Raw sewage, other threats: Harvey's floods swamped sanitary sewer systems, posing public health threats along the Texas Gulf Coast.
• Harvey by the numbers: Statistics released by the White House during Vice President Mike Pence's visit offer a snapshot of Harvey's devastation.
• Rescue calls still at rapid pace: Rescue calls are slowing down but are still coming in at a clip of about 500 an hour.
• Another county eligible for FEMA aid: Another Harvey-devastated county has been declared a disaster, and a congressman hopes more will be added.

A road is covered by floodwater left in the wake of Hurricane and Tropical Storm Harvey on August 31, 2017 near Houston, Texas. Harvey, which made landfall north of Corpus Christi August 25, has dumped nearly 50 inches of rain in and around the Houston area. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)