Houston mayor modifies curfew time amid tropical storm

Houston's daily curfew has been pushed back to midnight, Mayor Sylvester Turner updated it in his tweet on Tuesday.

"I'm modifying the curfew to start at midnight (and still end at 5 am) to allow volunteers and others to do their great work," the tweet said.

The mayor previously announced the curfew would start from 10:00 p.m. (0300 GMT) to 5:00 a.m. (1000 GMT).

Under the curfew, city residents are not allowed outside between midnight and 5:00 a.m. Police Chief Art Acevedo said this was partly to prevent looting and other crimes, whose punishments are increased or even doubled when the crimes happen in a disaster area.

Tropical Storm Harvey continues to ravage the outer ring of Houston on Tuesday after landing on Friday night. The flood has inundated Houston for days.