Hurricane Harvey: Flooded West Houston Homes Under Mandatory Evacuations

HOUSTON, TX — Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner has ordered a mandatory evacuation of starting tomorrow of homes in West Houston flooded by the release of water from the Addicks and Barker-Cypress reservoirs.

Turner announced the evacuation in a series of Tweets. He said that people in about 300 inundated homes have chosen to stay despite a voluntary evacuation issued Friday while people in about 115 homes have evacuated voluntarily.

Centerpoint energy will turn off electricity to the flooded homes starting at 7 a.m. Sunday, Turner said. He added that the evacuation was to prevent harm to residents and make first responders' work more feasible in that area. (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.)

Turner said that 1000s need to be evacuated. Water released by the Army Corps of Engineers might results in standing water in homes for two weeks. The evacuation applies to homes in zone south of I-10, north of Briarforest, east of the Addicks and Barker reservoirs and west of Gessner Road.

Photo: Residents in a neighborhood near the Barker Reservoir return to their homes to collect belongings August 31, 2017 in Houston, Texas. The neighborhoods surrounding the reservoir are still experiencing severe flooding due to the accumulation of historic levels of rainfall, though floodwaters are beginning to recede in many parts of the city. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images News/Getty Images)