Houston remains submerged as Hurricane Harvey makes second landfall; storm Irma building up

As the state of Texas is battling the worst tropical storm in over 50 years, Hurricane Harvey made a second landfall on Wednesday, west of Cameron, Louisiana, at around 4 am. In Houston, thousands of people remain stranded and rescue operations to help them are on.

Harvey battered the state for the sixth straight day and as people have been given evacuation orders, shelter homes have been swarming with residents. Speaking of the situation, Houston's mayor Sylvester Turner told the media that as of now the government authorities are focusing on rescuing people instead of gauging the loss that the storm has caused.

Meanwhile, 30 deaths have been confirmed and the police department has rescued over 35,000 people, reported the New York Times. Hurricane Harvey also killed an Indian student on Tuesday. Nikhil Bhatia, who was admitted to the ICU after being rescued from a lake earlier, died on August 30. He was 24.

Bhatia, a student of the Texas A&M University, was rescued from Lake Bryan where he and his friend Shalini Singh had gone swimming on Saturday, reported the Press Trust of India. The duo had been found in the lake and was admitted to the ICU. While Bhatia has succumbed, Singh continues to fight for life.

The two flagged down police officers nearby when they noticed a sudden current of water, which pushed them deeper. Bryan Police officer then rescued them and took them to a nearby hospital after providing CPR.

Bhatia from Jaipur and Singh from New Delhi were pursuing a master's degree in public health.

While the weather department has said that the rains are expected to recede and Houston is likely to see a few dry days, there seems to be another tropical storm in the offing. According to USA Today, tropical storm Irma has formed in the Central Atlantic Ocean and may worsen the situation in case it intensifies.

The forecasters have said that though the storm doesn't have an immediate threat, its track cannot be predicted yet. Irma is said to be around 3,000 miles southeast of Miami and may strengthen into a hurricane on Thursday or Friday.

Additionally, another storm seems to be developing in the Gulf of Mexico and in case this intensifies, Texas and Louisiana could be in for more showers.