Many people, like D.J. Knight of Pearlman, Texas, decided to ride out the storm at home, despite voluntary and mandatory orders issued across the region.
"The windows looked like they would explode," said Knight, a mother of two. "It just wouldn't stop."
Now, without electricity and surrounded by flooded roads and wreckage, Knight wonders whether it was worth enduring a sleepless night as the storm shook her home, about halfway between Galveston and Houston.
"I didn't think it would be as bad as it was," she said. "It was horrible." Knight is one of thousands waiting for assistance as the state rolls out the largest search and rescue operation in Texas history.
