Texas Children's Hospital closes the flood gates

As Hurricane Harvey descends on Houston, residents braving the rain are sharing photos of flooding, damage, and their storm setups. As Hurricane Harvey descends on Houston, residents braving the rain are sharing photos of flooding, damage, and their storm setups. Photo: John Porter Photo: John Porter Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Texas Children's Hospital closes the flood gates 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

As dangerous flooding swamped Houston early Sunday, the massive "submarine" doors began slamming shut across the Texas Medical Center, sealing off the lower floors of major hospitals.

Texas Children's Hospital deployed the flood gates at the West, Wallace and Feign Towers on the medical campus, a spokeswoman said Sunday.

Flood doors were also deployed at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center and TIRR Memorial Hermann Hospital.

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All flood doors leading to the basement and first floors at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston were also closed. Safety crews were on the scene early Sunday morning assessing conditions, including one employee who had to wade into work, a spokeswoman said.

The system of flood doors were part of the massive safety upgrade launched after Tropical Storm Allison devastated the medical campus in 2001. Tens of thousands of laboratory animals drowned, decades of medical research was lost, and patient evacuations were forced when basement-level power systems failed, plunging the world's largest medical center into darkness.