In pictures: Harvey wreaks havoc across Texas

One way or another, the damage inflicted by Tropical Storm Harvey is likely to be felt for a very long time. It roared ashore Friday in Texas as a Category 4 hurricane, but by Sunday flooding had taken over as the main threat from the strongest storm to strike the U.S. since 2004, with up to 50 inches of rain forecast to fall in some areas. Several deaths have been attributed to the storm so far, thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes, flights at multiple Texas airports have been cancelled, and drinking water supplies, crops and energy production are also under threat. "It is simply a tragedy of epic proportions," said Todd Crawford, chief meteorologist at The Weather Company in Andover, Massachusetts./assets/graphics src="/wp-content/uploads2017/08/CI111735828.JPG"

People walk through the flooding along Houston's Telephone Road. The city has dealt with deluges before, but elected officials, meteorologists and emergency managers all say there has never been anything like this before, and the downpour could last for days./assets/graphics src="/wp-content/uploads2017/08/CI111736828.JPG"

A damaged home in Rockport, close to where Harvey made landfall. The heavy rain may last for days, and many people in the city are thought to be without flood insurance.

A man looks through a stack of boats jumbled in the wake of the storm. Winds reached speeds of up to 130 miles per hour as the storm hit on Friday. By Saturday afternoon it had dumped over a dozen inches of rain on some areas./assets/graphics src="/wp-content/uploads2017/08/CI111738828.JPG"

Submerged cars on a freeway near downtown Houston. Major roadways in Houston were flooded by Sunday morning, and in some places motorists were stranded for hours as off-ramps remained inundated.

A woman makes her way out of the wreckage of her home as a neighbor offers to help her out of the window. She had been hiding in the shower after the storm blew her roof off and the walls caved in.

At least 19 points across southeastern Texas were expected to set flooding records. Houston police were advising residents to stay in their houses. "Non-life threatening water inside home is safer than going outside," the Harris County Sheriff's Office tweeted on Sunday morning./assets/graphics src="/wp-content/uploads2017/08/CI111741828.JPG"

Flooding seen from a plane from Port Aransas to Port O'Connor, Texas. Volunteers joined emergency teams to pull people from their homes or from the water, which in places gushed into second-floor windows.

Men head out into the flooded streets of Galveston, Texas. Earlier, rising water had forced thousands of people to take to rooftops or flee to higher ground./assets/graphics src="/wp-content/uploads2017/08/CI111744828.JPG"

Evacuated residents of Meyerland in southwest Houston wait on an overpass for further help. Hundreds of thousands of homes lost their power supply and flooding put drinking water supplies at risk.

Meyerland residents walk along a deserted overpass. There's no telling how long it will be until life in Texas gets back to normal, as flooding is set to continue./assets/graphics src="/wp-content/uploads2017/08/CI111745828.JPG"

Evacuees take shelter at the Delco Center in east Austin, Texas, where the Red Cross is offering shelter for hundreds of people. Harvey will have "a tremendous impact on businesses, homes, property and the ability to travel in the entire Houston area," said Dan Pydynowski, a meteorologist with AccuWeather Inc. in State College, Pennsylvania.