Heavy Rains Trigger Houston Ahead of ‘Howdy Modi’ Event

The torrentialrain triggered by a tropical storm have brought Houston to a halt ahead of the 'HowdyModi' event where US President Donald Trump will join Prime Minister NarendraModi who will address over 50,000 Indian-Americans. The rains had prompted thegovernor to declare an emergency in several parts of the state of Texas.

TropicalDepression Imelda hit Texas on Thursday leading to flooding of several areas,power outages and prompting urgent rescues and warnings across southeasternTexas for people to stay indoors.

Texas GovernorGreg Abbott has declared a state of emergency for 13 countries in southeasternTexas.

The Governor saidthat this had happened very quickly. It just demonstrates that in this day andtime, climate change is real. He said that people don't have to be concernedfor long just with a hurricane. "We have to be concerned with almost any sortof weather system that can quickly evolve into a major storm and produce agreat deal of rain," said Abbott.

According to the USNational Weather Service, the rainfall was winding down in areas that had beenhit the hardest, but some parts of Fort Bend, Harris and Galveston countieswere seeing additional 2-3 inches of rainfall every hour.

However, thevolunteers of the Howdy Modi event are upbeat and confident that all theattendees at the sprawling NRG stadium in Houston will have an experience theywill cherish all their lives.