Storms kill eight in Texas, Oklahoma; floods sweep Houston

Torrential rains have killed at least eight people in Texas and Oklahoma, including two in Houston where flooding turned streets into rivers and led to about 1,000 calls for help in the fourth-most populous US city, officials said on Tuesday. Numerous people were missing in Texas after the storms slammed the states during the Memorial Day weekend, causing floods and tornadoes that destroyed hundreds of homes and swept away bridges.
"There are still some significant areas of really devastating flooding in Houston," Mayor Annise Parker said at a news conference, adding she has asked the governor to declare the city a disaster area. She said most of Houston is high and dry but advised people to stay home. More than 1,000 vehicles were submerged in floods and people took instead to bicycles, kayak and surfboards to navigate water-covered streets.
President Barack Obama said on Tuesday he had assured Texas Governor Greg Abbott that he could count on help from the federal government as the state recovers from the floods. Abbott has declared a state of disaster in 24 Texas counties. Abbott said he has deployed the state's National Guard and was worried the death toll could rise. "We still have countless people who are missing," he told cable news station CNN.
There was no damage estimate available for the state, which has a $1.4 trillion-a-year economy and is the country's main domestic source of energy as well as an agricultural and manufacturing power. Houston resident owner Bob Hust waited out the flood waters on the second floor of his home after a nearby bayou overran its banks. "You could hear water from all corners of the house coming in ... we had no option," he told local broadcaster KTRK.
More bad weather was expected with the National Weather Service issuing a flash flood warning on Tuesday for Houston as a line of thunderstorms moved along the Gulf of Mexico coast toward Florida. Rescue workers have been looking for 12 members of two families missing after their vacation home was swept off its foundation in Wimberley, a town about 30 miles (48 km) south-west of Austin, where flood waters caused a wave of destruction.