Houston mayor Sylvester Turner has imposed an indefinite overnight curfew to restrain looting in the wake of intense flooding that has hit southeast Texas following Hurricane Harvey, The Hill reports.
The citywide curfew will last from midnight until 5 a.m., Turner announced late Tuesday, with exceptions for flood relief volunteers, emergency responders, those commuting to work and those seeking shelter.
“Quite frankly, no one needs to be on the road or out before 5,” Turner said.
“There are too many people from across our city, too many residents, that are out of their homes and they are in shelters, and I don’t want them to have to worry about someone breaking into their home or looting or doing anything of that nature while they are away,” he added
According to the Houston mayor some people “may be inclined to take advantage of this situation.” He initially said the curfew would begin at 10 p.m. on Tuesday, but later added that it would start later “to allow volunteers and others to do their great work.”
The imposed curfew came as first responders and volunteers in Houston continued to help thousands of people who had sought shelter amid intense flooding in the city. Harvey made landfall last Friday as a Category 4 storm, and has continued to blanket Houston and other areas of southeast Texas with historic amounts of rain, The Hill writes.
Be the first to comment