The US Navy evacuated two bases of personnel and aircraft on Thursday as Hurricane Harvey barreled toward the Texas coast and was expected to make landfall with…
The US Navy evacuated two bases of personnel and aircraft on Thursday as Hurricane Harvey barreled toward the Texas coast and was expected to make landfall with 111 mph winds and heavy rains late Friday, according to a report.
Local governments in Harvey’s path also alerted residents to the danger of storm surges as high as 7 feet that could flood areas and swamp roads to decide on Thursday whether to leave the area.
“Please be advised that decisions as to whether you are going to stay on the island must be made immediately because impending storm conditions, surge, rainfall and flooding will impede travel, ” said a statement from Mayor Joe McComb of Corpus Christi .
Naval Air Station Corpus Christi and Naval Air Station Kingsville are in Harvey’s path, which strengthened into a Category 1 storm on Thursday and is expected to come ashore as a Category 3, the Military Times said .
The Navy removed about half of its 100 T-45 trainer jets — those able to fly — to a base in Forth Worth.
“All airworthy aircraft are being evacuated to Fort Worth, ” Kevin Clarke, a Kingsville spokesman, told the Military Times.
It also moved able aircraft — including T-6 and T-44 trainers — from Corpus Christi to Fort Worth.
Any remaining aircraft would be placed in hangars.
About 10,000 base personnel at Corpus Christi — flight students, their families, instructors and contractors — were heading to the Dallas area.
Around 1,500 flight students and instructors at Kingsville were evacuated to the Forth Worth area, Clarke said.
Energy companies — including Royal Dutch Shell, Anadarko Petroleum and Exxon Mobil — also began evacuating offshore oil and gas platforms in Harvey’s path.
It’s expected to come ashore in an area of Texas where nearly a fifth of the country’s crude oil is produced offshore, Reuters reported .
