As of 9 a.m. Wednesday, there is still much that remains unknown in Port Arthur.

First is the extent of the impact.

According to Risa Carpenter, the city’s spokesperson, the city has never seen flooding of this magnitude and it’s not yet clear just how many people need help.

“I think someone said in the last 24-hours there was 20 of inches of rain,” she said.

The city averages about 60 inches per year.

Tropical Storm Harvey hit the Port Arthur area near Sabine Pass at around 9 p.m. Tuesday, bringing even more rain to an area that had been pounded since Saturday. Floodwaters quickly rose, leaving possibly hundreds stranded at their homes.

Carpenter said the city is depending on volunteer vessels to help rescue stranded citizens and she reminded citizens who do need help to set a white sheet or shirt or curtain in their windows to let rescuers know where to go.

Although the city is requesting volunteer help, there is no staging area at present and so the rescue effort is, in some ways, informal though rescue helicopters are hovering over the city.

Initially, even the first round of survivors were put at risk again when the Bob Bowers Civic Center—the initial Red Cross shelter—flooded Tuesday night.

Carpenter said she believes there had been “several hundred” residents there.

On Wednesday, the city opened a second shelter at the Carl Parker Center, though by mid-morning that shelter contained to no food or other provisions.

Carpenter urged residents to be safe and if anyone needed aid they could call 911 or 409-983-8600.