HOUSTON_ Texans flocked to Sunday worship services, pressed ahead with door-to-door searches for frail and elderly survivors, and accelerated an exodus from evacuation centers where some had sheltered for more than a week after the most powerful hurricane to strike the continental U.S. in more than a decade.
As tens of thousands in Houston and its environs spent the Labor Day holiday weekend cleaning out homes from which storm Harvey's waters had receded, the city's mayor exhorted his constituents to move ahead as quickly as possible toward some semblance of normal in the nation's fourth-largest city.
"I'm encouraging people: 'Get up, and let's get going,'" Mayor Sylvester Turner said on NBC's "Meet the Press."
Looking ahead to the Tuesday start of the workweek, Turner exhorted businesses: "Most of the city is dry, and I'm saying if you can open, let's open up and get started."
In some areas, though, the waters were slow to recede. On Saturday, the mayor ordered nearly 300 people to leave flooded homes in the western part of the city, effective Sunday morning, after which power would be cut for the safety of firefighters still carrying out door-to-door checks.
Parts of western Houston are still coping with high waters after the Army Corps of Engineers released water from two flood-swollen reservoirs. Turner said those waters might linger for another 10 days.
President Donald Trump, who paid a second visit to Texas on Saturday, declared Sunday a national day of prayer for those afflicted by storm Harvey. In Washington, the president and his wife, Melania, attended services at St. John's Episcopal Church, close to the White House.
In Texas, millions more attended services, some held in still-waterlogged or damaged churches.
As the storm's death toll approached 50, with much of Houston and smaller towns still being searched, the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency said the powerful storm should serve as a "wake-up call" to officials at all levels to intensify disaster preparations.
"I need state representatives, state legislative officials and local elected officials to listen up _ this is a call, it is a wake-up call for this country," William "Brock" Long said on CBS's "Face the Nation."
"What we need are for elected officials at all levels of government to hit the reset button, sit down, evaluate where their programs are with their state emergency directors as well as their local emergency management directors, and make sure that they have everything they need to increase their levels of self-sufficiency," he continued.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbot said Sunday that the storm had been one of the most expensive ever, estimating recovery costs at between $150 billion to $180 billion. He said Trump expected lawmakers to step up and quickly approve funds as necessary, both in the short and long term.
"I think Congress understands this is a down payment on something that will cost far more," he said.
In Houston, Turner said people were eager to leave shelters and return to homes. Those still housed in city evacuation centers had dwindled to 1,400, he said Sunday, from a high of 10,000.
But he warned homeowners to be wary of mold and other toxins left behind by the epic flood. Sodden carpets and wallboard need to be pulled out, he said.
"What we need is rapid-repair housing so people can stay in their homes while they make the necessary repairs," he said on NBC.
Turner also has promised to look soon at lifting an overnight curfew. Businesses, especially restaurateurs, have complained to the mayor about not only needing to stay open to make money, but also saying people wanted to blow off steam at bars and restaurants after a devastating week.
"Our goal is just to get back to normalcy as quickly as we can, for those who can, so we can support those who can't," Greater Houston Restaurant Association Director Melissa Stewart told the Houston Chronicle.
On Saturday night, there were signs of a return to Houston's former liveliness. Between the Astros' two games against the Mets on Saturday night, bars and restaurants near Minute Maid Park were packed. Ride-share cars made their rounds. In an enterprising touch, a bicycle taxi pedaled up Chartres Street, picking up passengers.
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(King reported from Washington.)
