Harvey aftermath: Houston 'open for business'; other cities suffering

Just days after Harvey struck, Mayor of Houston Sylvester Turner struck an optimistic tone on Thursday, declaring that the city is "is open for business." The mayor and other officials pointed to small signs of recovery, such as fewer people in shelters, more bus lines resuming and the city's shipping channel re-opening on a limited basis.

Though parts of Houston still face flooding issues because of standing water, the rest of the city is drying out, says the Mayor. Traffic is returning to the roadways and power has been restored to much of the region. "We are turning the corner," he said.

Flood-stricken southeast Texas, however, was still struggling with a new series of blows that left one city without running water, the operators of a flood-damaged chemical plant warning of additional fires and at least one hospital unable to care for patients. Nearly a week after Hurricane Harvey slammed into the Texas coast, desperate residents remain stranded without food and water in the wake of unprecedented flooding. Meanwhile, authorities continue searching for survivors and made helicopter rescues from rooftops as the death toll from Harvey climbed to at least 47.

Across the state, families are searching tirelessly for missing relatives six days after Harvey first pummeled the Texas coast. 

More than 72,000 people have been rescued so far, according to officials.

"We just pray that the body count ... won't rise significantly," Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said Wednesday.

But Houston received a bit of good news Thursday. The pool level at Barker Reservoir -- which officials feared would overflow -- has peaked and is going down, the Army Corps of Engineers said.