The storm is expected to be one of the costliest natural disasters in U.S. history, displacing more than 1 million people and leaving behind wreckage in an area stretching more than 300 miles that officials said would take years to repair.

Some areas of Texas received more than 50 inches (127 cm) of rain and the storm led to the deaths of at least 46 people.

The devastation from the unprecedented flooding to the Houston metropolitan area, with an economy as large as Argentina's, has been enormous. As of Saturday morning, nearly 200,000 homes have suffered flood damage and about 12,600 were destroyed, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Floodwaters of 18 inches or more once covered more than 70 percent of Harris County,

Many areas still were battling floodwaters from swollen rivers that were expected to last for a week or more. In Beaumont, about 85 miles (137 km) east, officials were trying to repair a flood-damaged pumping station that caused the city of about 120,000 people to lose drinking water about three days ago.

The storm shut about a fourth of U.S. refinery capacity, much of which is clustered along the Gulf Coast, and caused gasoline prices to spike to a two-year high ahead of the long Labor Day holiday weekend.