Trump surveys Texas as Harvey rages on

President Donald Trump has visited Texas to survey damage from the first major natural disaster to test his leadership in a crisis, as record rainfall from Tropical Storm Harvey lashed Houston and tens of thousands of people fled deluged homes.

The storm turning slowly in the Gulf of Mexico has brought catastrophic flooding to Texas, killing at least 13 people and paralyzing Houston, America's fourth most populous city.

With damage expected to run well into the tens of billions of dollars, it will rank among the costliest U.S. natural disasters.

City officials readied temporary housing for about 19,000 people, with thousands more expected to flee as flooding entered its fourth day and space ran out in cramped shelters.

By Aug. 29, nearly 50,000 homes had suffered flood damage, Texas officials said, and the tally will climb.
Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner announced curfew from 12 a.m. to 5 a.m. amid reports of looting, armed robberies and people impersonating police officers.

Nearly a third of Harris County, with a population of 4.6 million, was under water, an area 15 times the size of Manhattan, the Houston Chronicle newspaper said.

Harvey has affected nearly a fifth of U.S. refining capacity, triggering worries about lack of gasoline and sending gasoline futures to a two-year high.

Houston residents glimpsed patchy sunlight on Aug. 29 afternoon for the first time in days, but forecasters warned 15 to 30 cms of rain was on its way through Sept. 1, badly straining the dams and drainage systems that protect a low-lying metropolitan area whose economy is about as large as Argentina's.

Harris County officials warned residents to evacuate as they released water from overflowing reservoirs to...