HOUSTON – The storm that soaked and battered much of Houston let up slightly Tuesday afternoon. But the toll of days of nonstop rain is still leaving a heavy mark.
Tuesday afternoon, the National Weather Service announced that Cedar Bayou, Texas has recorded 51.88 inches of rain from Harvey, setting a new continental U.S. record.
"I didn't even imagine that it was going to be this catastrophic," one resident said. "This is horrible. I had my 2-year-old. He told me he was scared."
High-water rescues are being performed by the minute across southeast Texas.
Rescuers are working around the clock to save residents fighting to stay above water, floating on air mattresses, piling into canoes and even being lifted out of harm's way in rescue baskets.
"You can't go this way. You can’t go that way. We've been stuck. We've been here since Friday," Sandra Torres said.
"One end of the highway that was open is now closed, and the one that closed is now open," another resident, Pete Kennedy, said. "I guess all the water is just running down here. (I) guess I'm just going to go home."
The American Red Cross set up a mass shelter in downtown Houston designed to accommodate 5,000 people.
But more than 9,000 people have since walked through the door, and the organization said it has no plans to turn people away.
Thousands more are staying at other shelters.
President Donald Trump and the first lady flew in to the coastal city of Corpus Christi earlier in the day, where Hurricane Harvey first made its mark.
"This was of epic proportion. Nobody's ever seen anything like this," Trump said.
Hospitals across Houston are facing power outages, and their supplies are rapidly dwindling.
The rush is now on to evacuate even more patients.