A similar drama was unfolding this week in Rosenberg, Tex., more than an hours drive southwest of Houston. There, Lashunder Smith, 43, a nursing home worker, has been hoping to hear something about her daughter, Alexzandra Smith, 23.
The missing-person flier posted by the police says that Alexzandra last communicated with her mother on Facebook on Aug. 25, around the time Harvey slammed into the Texas coast. She had told her mother she was at the Greenspoint Mall, on the north side of town. Her younger sister Ashlee Smith, 15, with whom she stayed in close touch, has not heard from her either.
On Tuesday evening, Ms. Smith and her younger daughter were holed up in their modest apartment. The floodwater had not reached the place, but a group of children were in the parking lot, jousting with fallen palm fronds.