Tropical Storm Harvey dumped record amounts of rain Tuesday night and Wednesday morning crippling the city with floodwater and overwhelming efforts to move people out of harm’s way.

Emergency management crews, city workers and dozens and dozens of volunteers worked Wednesday to rescue what was estimated to be hundreds, if not thousands, of residents trapped by high water.

Between 20 and 24 inches of rain were reported to have fallen in approximately a 24-hour period, overwhelming normal storm drainages.

“We have fire personnel, the National Guard is assembling right now, mobilizing,” said Port Arthur Mayor Derrick Freeman in a video he made as he sloshed through his own heavily flooded house.

“We have the military that is involved. We have the Coast Guard involved. We have all city assets helping. If you’re still in your home, we’re coming. Stay with us.”

The floodwaters came on much more suddenly than most residents expected, with many of them waking up to high water already inside their houses and the water on roadways too high to safely evacuate.

Many who did evacuate wound up in a shelter that later was engulfed with floodwaters too.

The Robert A. “Bob” Bowers Civic Center began flooding at approximately 8 p.m. Tuesday. The floor was covered in 20 minutes, forcing evacuees to retreat to the bleachers.

Flooded roadways thwarted help from outside Port Arthur as well.

County Judge Jeff Branick told residents early Wednesday, help was on the way, but it would be delayed.

“It seems like, based on the calls, there are more houses in Port Arthur that are flooded than are not,” he said. “The problem is, with trying to get in and assist those people, the assets we’ve requested from the state aren’t able to be deployed for us because every major thoroughfare going north and west out of Jefferson County are closed. I-10, Highway 90, 365, 69/96, Highway 287 — all closed.”

Authorities were still trying to get a handle late Wednesday on the full impact of the damage.

“It’s turned into a disaster, much worse than the original weather reports would have led us to believe,” Branick said.

Mayor Freeman said the weather was nearly twice as bad as they expected.

“We were expecting 8 to 10 inches; we actually got 18 to 20 inches of water last night,” he said. “We weren’t ready for that. No one was.”

Freeman said approximately 150 boats were in the water working rescues.

Of those approximately 100 were volunteers with the Cajun Navy, a group of Louisiana sportsman who use personal boats to help in such situations.

“We’re appreciative,” Freeman said of the volunteers. “Very appreciative.”

Rescues Tuesday night and before dawn Wednesday were complicated by other emergencies as well.

“We had several fires last night that happened while we were trying to rescue folks while the water was rising,” Freeman said. “We lost three fire trucks last night, two big trucks and our haz-mat truck and a dump truck.”

Freeman said the city crews and volunteers are working hard to overcome the challenges they face.

“We are doing our best to make sure we get to everything and address everyone’s needs,” he said. “Please be patient with us. There’s a lot of people out there suffering, a lot of people hurting.

“Please continue to have faith in us. Our city is still here. We’re going to rebuild.