BEAUMONT, Texas, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- "I only have what I have now," 61-year-old Dond Collins Sr., wearing a T-shirt, khakis pants and rubber roots, told Xinhua, pointing at his half-swamped house in suburban Port Arthur, an eastern Texas city bordering the state of Louisiana.
A week after Hurricane Harvey came ashore in southeast Texas, catastrophic flooding caused by record amount of rain is receding slowly in bordering areas between the two southern states.
Severe economic losses and tremendous mental trauma are nearly irreparable.
Collins Sr. broke the moment floodwaters pumped into his home, which was just renovated not long ago with his pension, but was not insured. His was one of hundreds of houses flooded Tuesday night in the neighborhood near a number of oil refineries.
"I have only 250 bucks for food, fuel and a place to stay in," said the retiree, concerned that he would probably have to sleep in his truck when the night falls.
Though the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) offers financial support to evacuees and others in need, Collins Sr. said the assistance requires an application first, but with his house in several feet of water, he has no computer to file the document.
"I wish there would somebody reach out to help," he said.
The meteorological disaster was weakened to a tropical depression the second time it made landfall Wednesday, but still brought about massive rain that led to catastrophic flooding, keeping most of the Beaumont-Port Arthur metropolitan area in rapid water flows for a time.
Despite that the heavily-clouded sky cleared up for the first time in a week, large swaths of highways cutting through the area were still covered by water, almost unpassable for small and even mid-sized vehicles.
Plastic bottles, trash, broken bushes, pieces of clothes and shoes were floating around water-buried communities. Cars parked in front of houses were only seen by their roofs and windows.
To locate those in need of evacuation or rescue, military and civilian helicopters were flying over the Beaumont-Port Arthur area while motor boats, steered by state police and volunteers, were whizzing on watercourses in flooded neighborhood.
However, due to the size of the affected areas and lack of systematic coordination between military and civilian assistance, there is considerable possibility that those who need help could not be seen, located, or reached out to in time.
Jeremy Augustine, a volunteer from Louisiana, told Xinhua that the situation in floodwaters is complicated in light of backwash, swirls, underwater barriers, floating objects, and many other unpredictable factors.
"The flooding is not receding but rising in Neches River in Beaumont," Augustine said. "It's hard to tell how things will be going in coming days."
Storm Harvey has so far displaced over 1 million people, killed at least 40, and damaged or destroyed over 100,000 homes, with an estimated 80 billion U.S. dollars in damage.
White House said Friday President Donald Trump has asked the Congress to approve a 7.9-billion-dollar request for initial payment for Harvey relief and recovery efforts.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott previously estimated that the lone star state could need more than 125 billion dollars from the federal government as it recovers from the devastating storm.
About 1,000 evacuees were temporarily relocated to Civic Center shelter in Lake Charles, a much less-affected Louisiana city about one-hour drive east of Beaumont.
The shelter provides three meals a day. Evacuees, still in distress, sleep in folding beds.
Kevin Richard, a volunteer, told Xinhua that most of the evacuees here came from southeast Texas and surrounding areas affected by flooding, and more are expected to arrive.
Recalling aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which almost destroyed New Orleans, Louisiana 12 years ago, Richard said residents displaced by Harvey could also ended up without a home to go back or a life to return to.
"I don't think their life would ever be back to normal after experiencing this," he said.
