New Delhi: Heavy rains in Houston may put a dampner on the highly-anticipated Howdy Modi! event scheduled for Sunday. The torrential downpour, triggered by a tropical storm, has wreaked havoc in parts of Texas, leading Governor Greg Abott to declare a state of emergency.
The Howdy Modi! event, which is expected to see the largest turnout for a foreign leader in the US, is set to take place at the NRG Stadium in Houston, which has a seating capacity of 70,000. Over 50,000 people have registered already. US President Donald Trump will also join the Prime Minister on stage.
Tropical Depression Imelda hit Texas Thursday, causing devastating flooding, power outages and prompting urgent rescues and warnings across southeastern Texas.
“This happened very quickly. It just demonstrates that in this day and time, climate change is real. We no longer have to be concerned just with a hurricane. We have to be concerned with almost any sort of weather system that can quickly evolve into a major storm and produce a great deal of rain,” said Abbott, who declared a state of emergency for 13 counties in southeastern Texas.
The news of the rains triggered some in India to troll Modi, with several blaming Houston’s troubles on the Prime Minister.
We have had rains in plenty all over the country to the extent of huge floods and river overflows under the PM ship of Narendrabhai.Before the visit of Modi to Houston, the town is flooded with heavy rains.Modi has the rain God in his grip !
— K Narayanaswamy (@sravan20071) September 20, 2019
@ArvindKejriwal Thanks for making it rain in Houston. It was Modi's conspiracy to increase temperature & humidity here
— Shailesh Singh (@shailesh_singh) August 15, 2016
(With inputs from PTI)
Also read: Howdy Modi and Trump showcase Indian lobby in US. But double loyalties can’t go far