The powerful hurricane made landfall as a Category 4 storm late Friday night, packing 130 mph winds and heavy rain.
Hurricane Harvey made landfall on the Texas coast near Rockport as a powerful Category 4 storm late Friday night, packing 130-mph winds and unleashing powerful storm surges.
Harvey, the first major hurricane — classified as Category 3 or above — to hit the U. S. since Hurricane Wilma in 2005, could dump up to three feet of rain in some regions near the Gulf Coast in the next week as it lingers over the area.
Here’s what we know about Hurricane Harvey the moment:
Hurricane Harvey made landfall at approximately 10 p.m. CDT as a Category 4 storm in Texas late Friday, bringing with it 130-mph winds and unleashing flash floods, storm surges and up to three feet of rain.
Hours later, the National Weather Service updated Hurricane Harvey to a Category 3 storm with 125-mph winds and located the storm five miles north of Rockport. The National Weather Service also said that it expects Hurricane Harvey’s winds to slowly weaken, but maintain hurricane-force speeds through Saturday.
Harvey is the first major hurricane — classified as Category 3 or above — to hit the U. S. in over a decade. Harvey could dump up to three feet of rain in some spots in the next week as it lingers over the area, adding to the threat of flash flooding and storm surges.
Some forecasts are calling for as much as a mind-boggling 60 inches of rain from Harvey. The National Weather Service also warned that Harvey could linger for days and even spin back offshore to regenerate in the Gulf before heading toward Louisiana.
According to The Associated Press, Rockport, a coastal city of about 10,000 people, was directly hit when Harvey came ashore.
Rockport City Manager Kevin Carruth told KIII-TV that multiple people were taken to the county’s jail for assessment and treatment after the roof of a senior housing complex collapsed. Carruth also said that the historic downtown area has also sustained heavy damage, according to KIII-TV.
As of late Friday night, at least 10 people were treated for injuries, KIII-TV reported.
In Corpus Christi, the major city closest to the center of the storm, wind whipped palm trees and stinging sheets of horizontal rain slapped against hotels and office buildings along the city’s seawall as the storm made landfall.
Corpus Christi police said a homeowner shot an intruder after Hurricane Harvey made landfall. The victim was «coherent» when he was rushed to a hospital, police say.
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas said in a statement that more than 211,000 consumers were without power along the Gulf Coast, with more than 100 circuits currently out of service .
While a 4-6 foot storm surge and howling, 100-mph or higher winds will be a deadly threat, the storm’s biggest concern may eventually turn out to be flooding from days and days of torrential rain. Harvey will stall and spin for the next three to five days, dumping up to 2 feet of rain across the region.
Harvey «may be nothing short of a flooding disaster, » for Texas, according to AccuWeather meteorologist Alex Sosnowski, who said some communities could be underwater for days. Forecasters were already measuring 28-foot-high waves near the eye of the storm.
Contributing: The Associated Press
