Hurricane Harvey has likely set a new rainfall record for the continental United States, forecasters say.

Boats are floating down flooded streets looking for people to evacuate

Houston's George R. Brown convention center alone has already taken in more than 9,000 evacuees.

Tropical Storm Harvey has killed at least 17 people so far, more than 17,000 have sought shelter in Texas overall.

More than 12,000 members of the Texas National Guard - the US reserve military force - have been called out to support local authorities.

Volunteer Kathryn Loder from the George R. Brown convention center in Houston says she is "proud how everyone is coming together."

US President Donald Trump traveled to Texas on Tuesday. He called the storm "epic" but said that "Texas can handle anything."

A man returns to his house to rescue his pet dog.

A man and his son are hoping to fish paperwork and heirlooms from their flooded home in Bear Creek, Houston.

The tombstones in South Park Cemetery in Pearland, Texas are almost submerged.

Interstate highways 45 and 610 were left completely submerged on Sunday, with residents forced to wade through chest-deep flooding. The city's two main airports suspended all commercial flights.

On Sunday, the National Hurricane Center urged residents to stay put, warning that most deaths from hurricanes occur in the waters afterwards. On Wednesday, it warned people not to go sightseeing or drive around barricades.

Hurricane Harvey, which hit the coast of the US state of Texas on Friday night as a Category 4 storm, has since weakened. But although the winds may have fallen, the floods have risen, causing widespread havoc, even inland. The full extent of the damage where the storm has already passed is only gradually becoming clear - and it is still raging elsewhere.

Forecasters say that Harvey, now downgraded to tropical storm status, will linger along the shore for the next four to five days. Two people have already been reported dead as a result of the storm, and many have lost their homes, as in this mobile home park in Port Aransas. Nearly 230,000 people have been hit by power outages.

Texas had plenty of warning that the hurricane, the worst in the state since 1961, was on its way. And officials at the State of Texas Emergency Command Center are keeping a watchful eye on Harvey's slow progress. But they can only do so much to prevent damage as the storm works its way along the coastline.

The city of Rockport was directly in Harvey's path as it made landfall and has suffered extreme damage, the entire extent of which has yet to be assessed. People in Rockport who did not leave the town ahead of the storm were advised by its acting mayor to write their names and social security numbers on their arms in indelible ink to make identification easier if anything happened to them.

The Fairfield Inn in Rockport was one of the buildings to suffer extreme damage in the high winds. Homes, businesses and schools were also heavily affected or even destroyed.

Shipping in the region has been severely disrupted. The US Coast Guard has rescued 20 people from boats and barges in distress. And the third-largest petrochemical port in the US in Corpus Christi was closed with extensive damage.

US President Donald Trump is now facing the first major emergency management test of his administration. And he will be aware of the damage done to George W. Bush's presidency by Bush's slow response to Hurricane Katrina in August 2005. The White House said Trump had met with his Cabinet and senior administration officials to discuss the federal response to the disaster.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott warned people ahead of landfall that Hurricane Harvey "is going to be a very major disaster." Emergency services installed surge walls on critical roads near the Gulf Coast as the hurricane gained strength before reaching land.

In a rush to prepare for the major hurricane, shoppers have emptied shelves at grocery stores. In the wake of a devastating hurricane, there can be a general lack of access to basic supplies, including food, medicine and water.

While emergency services prepared for Hurricane Harvey, others took the opportunity to surf. Ahead of major hurricanes, surfers have often taken to the rough waves before a major hurricane for a thrill ride.

Preparing for a hurricane means different things for different people. For volunteers at the Calhoun Country Humane Society, it means rushing to find homes for the remaining animals at the shelter.

Hurricane Harvey was a threatening sight as it came in from the Gulf of Mexico. The extent of Harvey is well-captured in this shot from the GOES-16 satellite.

These traffic lights in Corpus Christi shine on despite having been bowled over by the winds ahead of Hurricane Harvey. Authorities expect widespread devastation.

Seaside houses in Corpus Christi have come in for a bruising, after Harvey barreled into the Texas coast with winds of 209 kilometers per hour (130 miles per hour). But the hurricane was later downgraded from Category 4 - the second-highest - to Category 2. That still means wind speeds of up to 177 kilometers per hour, though.