Viral images show devastation after Hurricane Harvey
Hurricane Harvey has claimed at least five lives.
Harvey has spawned torrential rains, flooding and tornadoes.
It hit Texas as a category four hurricane on Friday, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake.
It has been described as one of the biggest to batter the US mainland in more than a decade.
"The breadth and intensity of this rainfall are beyond anything experienced before," the National Weather Service said.
The NWS says between June 1 and Sunday, Houston received 117 centimetres of rain.
"Annual average rainfall is 49.77... Almost a year of rain in 3 months," it tweeted.
From 06/01/17-08/27/17 Houston IAH received 46.16" of rainfall. Annual average rainfall is 49.77"... Almost a yr of rain in 3 months. #houwx
— NWS Houston (@NWSHouston) August 28, 2017
Social media has been inundated with devastating images and videos of the aftermath.
'GOING TO SAVE SOME LIVES'
— Austin Kellerman (@AustinKellerman) August 27, 2017
Heroes converging in #Houston#houstonflood #HurricaneHarvey pic.twitter.com/052ObBBrpx
La vita Bella nursing home in Dickinson Texas is almost underwater with nursing home patients pic.twitter.com/oCNkrgoRZY
— Timothy J. McIntosh (@DividendsMGR) August 27, 2017
They couldn't save their home but they can save their dogs. 1 of the many families w/ pets struggling because of floods. #Hurricaneharvey pic.twitter.com/nDZYD3dMjb
— Gadi Schwartz (@GadiNBC) August 27, 2017
Perspective of Houston's flooding. This is from Houston TransStar. The top is March of 2016. The bottom is this morning. #Harvey pic.twitter.com/w9RFvE7vLJ
— Joey Palacios (@Joeycules) August 27, 2017