Texas Congressman Brian Babin said Wednesday he and his family were stuck in their home due to flooding from Hurricane Harvey.
The Republican told CNN’s Jim Acosta that although they were trapped, they were not in danger.
“I am absolutely trapped in my house,” Babin said. “I don’t have a way to get out until we have floodwaters recede here.”
Jimmy Milstead, a spokesman for Babin, told CNN later Wednesday the congressman was able to get past the flooding to escape the house, and was visiting an emergency operations center to help with disaster response.
In the interview, Babin said that short of a helicopter extraction or him taking off in his boat, he was stuck in place until the floodwaters went down. Until then, he said he was stuck in his Woodville, Texas, home during the unprecedented event.
“This hurricane is of a magnitude that I have never seen before,” the lifelong Texan said.
Hurricane Harvey made landfall several days ago in the region near Houston, and the storm has continued to rain down upon the coastal area, bringing record levels of rain. The mayor of Port Arthur, Texas, said Wednesday morning his entire city was underwater.
The storm and its aftermath have killed at least 28 people, according to CNN’s latest reporting.
Babin said he had been able to make the rounds in his Texas congressional district during the crisis, but the flooding on Wednesday stopped him from being able to meet with his constituents.
“I’m just one of hundreds of thousands of people in this district and across this part of our state that, you know, are just being afflicted by this terrible storm,” Babin said.
Babin also mentioned the severe property damage in his district, which he noted is home to a number of petrochemical facilities.
The damage to petrochemical facilities could be releasing pollutants into the environment, and as Babin mentioned, the temporary shuttering of these facilities will hit the economy.
“That’s why it’s so important that we get our infrastructure built back as quickly as we can,” Babin said. “Because this is going to be felt by, I think, all Americans at the gas pump.”