A contractor walks over debris from Hurricane Harvey Saturday, Aug. 26, 2017, in Missouri City, Texas. Harvey rolled over the Texas Gulf Coast on Saturday, smashing homes and businesses and lashing the... (Associated Press) 
 
 CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (AP) — The Latest on Hurricane Harvey (all times local): 
 
 2:15 p.m. 
 
 A Coast Guard official says helicopters rescued 18 people from boats and barges that were in distress because of Harvey. 
 
 Capt. Tony Hahn, commander of the Corpus Christi sector, said Saturday that the two helicopters managed to rescue the people when it became safe enough to do so. He says they retrieved three people from a fishing boat, four from a barge and 11 from two tugboats. 
 
 He says several boats sank in the Port of Corpus Christi and there will be a lot of work to do before it can reopen. 
 
 Hahn also says that since Corpus Christi is the third largest petrochemical port in the nation, there is the potential for chemical and crude oil spills, so they'll be watching for that. 
 
 He says the Port of Brownsville reopened Saturday morning and they haven't yet been able to assess the Port of Victoria. 
 
 Harvey came ashore as a Category 4 hurricane Friday night but has since been downgraded to a tropical storm. 
 
 ___ 
 
 2:12 p.m. 
 
 The White House says President Donald Trump has met with his Cabinet and other senior administration officials to discuss the federal response to the flooding and damage caused by Hurricane Harvey. 
 
 It issued a statement Saturday saying that Trump held a video conference from Camp David in which he instructed the relevant departments and agencies to "stay fully engaged and positioned to support his number one priority of saving lives." 
 
 It says Trump also reminded his department heads that the full impact of the storm won't be apparent for days, as residents of Texas and Louisiana recover from the heavy flooding and wind damage. 
 
 Harvey came ashore in Texas on Friday night as a Category 4 hurricane but has since been downgraded to a tropical storm as it weakens while moving inland. Forecasters warn of the possibility of catastrophic flooding, including in Houston, the nation's fourth largest city. 
 
 ___ 
 
 1:45 p.m. 
 
 Texas Gov. Greg Abbott says there have been no confirmed deaths linked to Tropical Storm Harvey. 
 
 Abbott said at a news conference Saturday in Austin that he's working with local officials and seeking information about the storm, but that there's nothing yet confirming that it killed anyone. 
 
 Abbott says it's too early to speculate as to how much property damage the storm has caused, but he has expanded his disaster declaration to cover more counties. 
 
 Harvey made landfall in Texas on Friday night as a Category 4 hurricane, but it has since been downgraded to a tropical storm as it weakens while moving inland. 
 
 Forecasters warn that the storm could cause catastrophic flooding as it lingers in the area for several days. 
 
 ___ 
 
 1 p.m. 
 
 The National Hurricane Center has downgraded Harvey from a Category 1 hurricane to a tropical storm. 
 
 But officials say they are still worried about potentially catastrophic rainfall that will continue for days, with more than 40 inches and flash flooding possible even well inland. 
 
 Harvey came ashore Friday along the Texas Gulf Coast as a Category 4 storm with 130 mph winds, the most powerful hurricane to hit the U.S. in more than a decade. 
 
 Experts say hurricanes almost always lose strength quickly after making landfall and moving away from the warm waters that fuel their winds. But the danger doesn't end there. 
 
 Harvey is expected to keep slowing and dumping rain through the middle of next week. 
 
 ___ 
 
 12:45 p.m. 
 
 Hurricane Harvey has been dumping nearly 3 inches (76.2 millimeters) of rain per hour at times and has left some streets in flood-prone Houston submerged in water. 
 
 Harris County Judge Ed Emmett, the chief administrator of the county that includes Houston, says flooding so far is a "minor issue." He says most of the watersheds are well within their banks "but we're not out of this." 
 
 Forecasters are predicting major flooding in the area by Tuesday. Houston has about 1,700 miles (2735.76 kilometers) of channels that drain to the Gulf of Mexico. 
 
 A handful of freeway service roads and streets and some scattered neighborhoods that normally experience high water in heavy rain have been flooded. 
 
 Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner cautions that although major flooding hasn't happened yet, "that can change." 
 
 ___ 
 
 11:30 a.m. 
 
 Families who escaped Rockport before Hurricane Harvey slammed into the Texas coastal city are worried about neighbors and whether their homes are still standing. 
 
 Johanna Cochran says she's panicking over whether her house or the McDonald's where she works survived the storm, which dealt Rockport a direct blow. She and her boyfriend evacuated to a San Antonio shelter along with dozens of other coastal residents. 
 
 Another Rockport resident, Pamela Montes, says she's also worried about her friends and her home. She says she knows many people who stayed behind because "no one felt like it was going to hit." 
 
 Harvey made landfall Friday night as a Category 4 hurricane but has since been downgraded to a Category 1, which is the least powerful classification. Forecasters warn that it could cause catastrophic flooding over the coming days. 
 
 ___ 
 
 11 a.m. 
 
 Texas officials say they are evacuating about 4,500 inmates from three state prisons in Brazoria County south of Houston because the nearby Brazos River is rising from Hurricane Harvey's heavy rain. 
 
 The Department of Criminal Justice says inmates from the Ramsey, Terrell, and Stringfellow Units in Rosharon are being taken by bus to other prisons in east Texas. 
 
 Additional food and water has been delivered to the prisons receiving the displaced inmates. 
 
 Harvey came ashore in Texas on Friday night as the strongest hurricane to hit the U.S. in more than a decade. It has since weakened to a Category 1 storm. 
 
 ___ 
 
 10:35 a.m. 
 
 The National Hurricane Center says Hurricane Harvey's maximum sustained winds have decreased to about 75 mph (120 kph) and that the storm is now centered about 25 miles west of Victoria, Texas. 
 
 The center says in its 10 a.m. update that the storm is expected to weaken over the next 48 hours and to become a tropical storm by Saturday afternoon. The storm is moving north at 2 mph (3 kph). 
 
 The hurricane center says that although the winds are weakening, the storm could cause catastrophic flooding over the coming days. 
 
 Harvey came ashore in Texas on Friday night as the strongest hurricane to hit the U.S. in more than a decade. 
 
 ___ 
 
 10:15 a.m. 
 
 The Coast Guard has sent two helicopters to try to rescue the crews of three tugboats in distress near the Lydia Ann Channel near Port Aransas, Texas. 
 
 The Coast Guard at Corpus Christi says it received a mayday notification Saturday from crew members aboard the Belle Chase, Sandy Point and Sabine Pass. 
 
 Two MH-65 Dolphin helicopter aircrews have been sent to rescue the crews. 
 
 Texas is being pounded by Hurricane Harvey, which came ashore as a Category 4 hurricane Friday night but has since been downgraded to a Category 1 as it moves inland. Forecasters warn that it could cause catastrophic flooding in the coming days. 
 
 ___ 
 
 9:40 a.m. 
 
 Hurricane Harvey has knocked out power to nearly 300,000 customers along the Texas coast and has dumped nearly 20 inches (half a meter) of rain in some places. 
 
 The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which manages about 90 percent of the state's electric grid, says there were 211,000 outages in the few hours after Harvey made landfall Friday night as a Category 4 hurricane. 
 
 That figure rose to 293,000 on Saturday, when the hurricane was downgraded to Category 1. 
 
 In addition to loss of power, emergency personnel in the communities northeast of Corpus Christi where Harvey made landfall are reporting loss of cellphone service and other forms of communication. 
 
 ___ 
 
 9 a.m. 
 
 The rain was so torrential along Interstate 45 coming out of Galveston as Hurricane Harvey settled over southeast Texas that motorists had to stop under bridges to avoid driving in whiteout conditions. 
 
 The downpour on Saturday has also caused minor street flooding along a highway in Dickinson, about 25 miles northwest of Galveston. 
 
 Harvey, the fiercest hurricane to hit the U.S. in more than a decade, made landfall Friday night about 30 miles (48 kilometers) northeast of Corpus Christi as a Category 4 storm with 130 mph (209 kph) winds. 
 
 It gradually weakened over the next several hours and the National Hurricane Center said that by 5 a.m. Saturday Harvey was downgraded to a Category 1. 
 
 ___ 
 
 8:30 a.m. 
 
 A Texas mayor says Hurricane Harvey hit his coastal community "right on the nose" and left "widespread devastation." 
 
 Rockport Mayor Charles "C.J." Wax told The Weather Channel on Saturday that some homes and businesses were heavily damaged or even completely destroyed. Schools were also damaged. 
 
 He says emergency response system for the city of about 10,000 people has been hampered by the loss of cellphone service and other forms of communication. 
 
 Harvey made landfall Friday evening as a Category 4 hurricane but has since been downgraded to a Category 1. The National Hurricane Center says the threat in coming days is sustained rains that could unleash "catastrophic" flooding. 
 
 The city of Victoria, about 60 miles (96 kilometers) north of Rockport, had received more than 16 inches of rain by Saturday morning. 
 
 ___ 
 
 8:15 a.m. 
 
 Daybreak has revealed some of the damage caused when Hurricane Harvey came ashore overnight, including downed lamp posts and tree limbs in Corpus Christi and roof tiles torn off buildings. 
 
 Harvey came ashore along Texas' Gulf Coast on Friday night as the most powerful hurricane to hit the U.S. in more than a decade. It has since been downgraded from a Category 4 to a Category 1 hurricane, but the storm is expected to hover in the region for days and to dump as much as 40 inches (1 meter) of rain in places. 
 
 Corpus Christi's marina has been left nearly unscathed, save an awning ripped from a restaurant entrance and a wooden garbage bin uprooted and thrown. 
 
 An old white sport fishing boat was partially submerged and several boats' sails came unfurled and were ripped and whipping in wind gusts of more than 50 mph. 
 
 ___ 
 
 7:45 a.m. 
 
 President Donald Trump has commended the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency for his handling of the hurricane now hitting the Texas Gulf Coast. 
 
 In a tweet Saturday morning addressed to FEMA head Brock Long, Trump said: "You are doing a great job - the world is watching! Be safe." 
 
 Hurricane Harvey, the fiercest to hit the U.S. in more than a decade, is posing the first major emergency management test of Trump's administration. 
 
 In a separate tweet, Trump said he is monitoring the hurricane closely from Camp David and "We are leaving nothing to chance. City, State and Federal Govs. working great together!" 
 
 He also tweeted that "We have fantastic people on the ground, got there long before #Harvey. So far, so good!" 
 
 ___ 
 
 5:45 a.m. 
 
 Harvey has been further downgraded to a Category 1 hurricane as it churns slowly inland from the Texas Gulf Coast, already depositing more than 9 inches of rain in South Texas. 
 
 Harvey made landfall about 10 p.m. Friday east-northeast of Corpus Christi as a Category 4, with winds in excess of 130 mph (210 kph). 
 
 But wind speeds quickly weakened and by early Saturday Harvey was downgraded. It continues to produce gusts of up to 120 mph (193 kph) and sustained winds of 90 mph (144 kph). The National Hurricane Center warns of "catastrophic flooding" over the next few days. 
 
 Emergency personnel in coastal communities like Rockport, just northeast of Corpus Christi, say there's broad damage to buildings. But Rockport Volunteer Fire Department Chief Steve Sims said early Saturday that firefighters were hunkered down at the city's fire station waiting for conditions to improve to assess the damage. 
 
 ___ 
 
 4:22 a.m. 
 
 Hurricane Harvey has settled over southeast Texas, dumping rain and lashing the state's Gulf Coast with damaging winds. 
 
 The storm made landfall Friday night as a Category 4 with 130 mph (209 kph) winds. It gradually weakened over the next several hours and by early Saturday, the National Hurricane Center said it back to a Category 2 — still sustaining winds of 110 mph (185 kph) as of 3 a.m. 
 
 Early damage reports from Gulf Coast cities included collapsed roofs and walls. One community transported multiple people from a senior living home to the county jail for treatment after a roof caved in. 
 
 But officials remained largely unable to assess the damage before daylight. 
 
 The storm is expected to slow further and flood the area with rain through the middle of next week. The center warned that Harvey could produce life-threatening storm surges along a coastal area of more than 400 miles (643 kilometers). ||||| A long line of cars, trucks and trailers carrying boats clogged the northbound lanes of Interstate 37 Thursday night as nervous residents fled the Corpus Christi area ahead of Hurricane Harvey’s landfall. 
 
 Corpus Christi resident Angie Flores said she agonized over the decision to leave behind her home, which sits just a few blocks from a waterfront. But she said Thursday’s warning from Gov. Greg Abbott to evacuate, and the prospect of winds well over 100 miles-per-hour, convinced her and her husband to take their four dogs to Austin. 
 
 “This is a pretty serious thing,” she said while giving her dogs a quick walk at a highway gas station in Pleasanton, just southeast of San Antonio. “We decided to leave while there was still a window of opportunity instead of being stuck in a real life-threatening situation.” 
 
 The family was headed to a pet friendly hotel in Austin, where they hope they won’t have to stay long. One of her small dogs — Little Boy — is blind and diabetic. “He was shaking in the car,” she said. 
 
 Hurricane Harvey is expected to be a Category 3 — or possibly Category 4 — storm by the time it crashes ashore near Corpus Christi on Friday night or early Saturday. With winds up to 125 miles per hour, storm swells could reach 12 feet and the system could drop more than 30 inches of rain in some spots. Abbott on Thursday activated 700 service members of the Texas Army Guard, Texas Air National Guard and Texas State Guard to help with responses to the monster storm. 
 
 “There is no doubt in my mind that the city will flood,” said Flores, a senior advisor to State Rep. Todd Hunter, a Corpus Christi Republican. “There are some people who aren’t going to leave because they think it’s going to be a good time. I worry about them.” 
 
 Flores said heavy traffic caused drivers to slow to 20 miles per hour at some points during her drive out of the Coastal Bend on Interstate 37. ||||| Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said flooding in Houston from Tropical Storm Harvey may be the worst the city has ever seen. 
 
 “Houston is an area that is prone to flood at least once a year,” Abbott told ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos on “This Week” Sunday, “but this is one of the worst, if not the worst that Houston has suffered.” 
 
 Harvey, which hit the Texas coast Friday night as a Category 4 hurricane with 130 mph winds and has since been downgraded to a tropical storm, has so far left at least two people dead. The storm is lingering over the Houston area, causing severe flooding that is expected to grow worse over the next few days, with a total of up to about three feet in rain possible through Wednesday. 
 
 Abbott said he appreciates the federal government's help in responding to Harvey. 
 
 “We could not be more appreciative of what the federal government has done, from the president on down,” Abbott, a Republican, told Stephanopoulos. 
 
 President Trump granted Governor Abbott’s request for a disaster proclamation on Friday, activating response from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for relief to the state. 
 
 “FEMA has been very active, involved, and engaged in this whole process long before the hurricane even hit ground,” said Abbott. “Because of their assistance it means that Texas will be able to begin the rebuilding process very swiftly.” 
 
 Ralph Barrera/Austin American-Statesman via AP 
 
 Asked by Stephanopoulos if it makes sense for the president to visit Texas this week, or if it will divert resources from the relief effort, Abbott said, “it depends on where he goes.” 
 
 “We are already involved in the cleanup process in Corpus Christi, if the president were to visit there it wouldn’t hinder any efforts. We’ll just have to wait and see where the storm goes, understanding that this entire storm has been very unpredictable in its movement, and I couldn’t tell you right now where it will be in two days,” he said. 
 
 The president tweeted Sunday morning that he will visit Texas once he can do so without disrupting emergency response efforts. 
 
 I will be going to Texas as soon as that trip can be made without causing disruption. The focus must be life and safety. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 27, 2017 
 
 The White House point man on the storm, Homeland Security Adviser Tom Bossert echoed the president’s tweet in a separate interview on “This Week” Sunday saying that Trump “doesn't want to get in the way” of relief efforts. 
 
 “We’ll go where we can without getting in the way of the operators,” said Bossert. “We certainly won’t go in a place where we would prevent lifesaving activities from taking place. The president wants to go to show support. He doesn’t want to go to get in the way.” ||||| Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE Residents of storm-ravaged Rockport, Texas were picking through the wreckage of homes and businesses Saturday. The south Texas town took the brunt of Hurricane Harvey's wrath, damaging residential, business and marina areas. (Aug 26) AP 
 
 A family evacuates their home in Houston on Aug. 27, 2017. Rescuers answered hundreds of calls for help Sunday as floodwaters from the remnants of Hurricane Harvey rose high enough to begin filling second-story homes, and authorities urged stranded families to seek refuge on their rooftops. (Photo: Mark Mulligan, Houston Chronicle via AP) 
 
 HOUSTON — Helicopters plucked desperate flood victims from rooftops Sunday while boats and trucks swept hundreds more residents to safety as Tropical Storm Harvey fueled historic rains and devastating flooding across a wide swath of East Texas. 
 
 Late Sunday night,Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said another 1,000 National Guard members will be sent to Houston on Monday, joining 3,000 already activated. 
 
 Flooded highways and streets left cars abandoned as weather alerts went off continuously, warning of possible tornadoes — all under a steady, pelting rain. 
 
 The unrelenting rain was forecast well into the week, and the Texas Gulf Coast braced for days of catastrophic flooding. The National Weather Service said some areas could be slammed with an "unprecedented" 50 inches of rain by week's end as the storm lingers in the region. 
 
 "This event is unprecedented & all impacts are unknown & beyond anything experienced," NWS tweeted. "Follow orders from officials to ensure safety." 
 
 Abbott activated the National Guard troops in addition to hundreds of other state emergency personnel aiding local first responders. He said 600 boats were aiding rescue efforts, and the Coast Guard said at least 16 helicopters were tapped for air rescues, with more coming into the area by Monday. 
 
 Convoys of buses and a mobile hospital unit were on the way to Houston and the Gulf Coast, as were truckloads of food and volunteers, Abbott said. 
 
 “They now know the cavalry is coming,” the governor said, adding: "Our top priority is to protect human life." 
 
 From Louisiana, the so-called "Cajun Navy," a group of volunteers with boats, were mobilizing to help with rescues. And from New Jersey, Gov. Chris Christie announced he was sending NJ Task Force 1 — a team comprised mainly of police, fire and emergency personnel — as members of the National Urban Search & Rescue Response System to arrived in Texas on Monday 
 
 More: Harvey threatens to make natural disaster history 
 
 More: Desperate for help, flood victims in Houston turn to Twitter for rescue 
 
 Flooding was overwhelming the Houston metropolitan area. Scenes of families being shuttled to safety played out in scores of neighborhoods. The Coast Guard said it rescued more than 100 people from rooftops and conducted more than 2,000 multi-person rescues, its three-boat teams searching block-by-block for stranded residents. 
 
 "If you are in a flooding situation, stay calm, do not panic," the Coast Guard said in a statement. "Do not go into the attic, rescuers from the air cannot see you." 
 
 The storm had claimed at least two lives, but it was to soon to know the full extent of the death and destruction as power and cellphone outages made communications difficult. 
 
 "The flooding in and around America's 4th most-populous city is going to write world headlines and set records for generations," tweeted meteorologist Roger Edwards of the National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center. 
 
 More: 'Catastrophic' Houston flooding leads to at least 500 overnight rescues 
 
 More: Federal government plans years-long recovery effort in states hit by Harvey 
 
 President Trump tweeted support for the agencies battling the disaster and planned to visit the state Tuesday. 
 
 “We are coordinating (visit) logistics with state and local officials," the White House said in a statement. "We continue to keep all of those affected in our thoughts and prayers.” 
 
 Under persistent, pounding rains, some residents in Richmond, 20 miles south of Houston, took refuge in a Red Cross shelter inside a Catholic Church recreation center. 
 
 Austin Herrera, 18, said the water on his family's 10-acre property in nearby Guy, Texas, jumped 1½ feet overnight, as water moccasins slithered under the house. He ushered the horses and other animals to higher ground, then drove the six members of his family to a nearby church who then bused them to the shelter. 
 
 "We've seen flooding before," Herrera said. "But never like this." 
 
 As of Sunday, the Red Cross shelter in Richmond, Texas, had 49 displaced residents. More could soon be on the way, since Richmond and neighboring Rosenberg sit on the banks of the Brazos River, which experienced catastrophic flooding just last year. 
 
 This event could match or surpass that, meteorologists said. 
 
 Some residents here were being bused in from another shelter at the Chinese Community Center in Houston, which had already filled to capacity, said Christine Bradley, the shelter manager. 
 
 "This is a whole new thing," she said. "It's huge." 
 
 More: Exclusive: Get an aerial look at Aransas County after Harvey 
 
 Over the next few days, Harvey also is expected to produce total rain accumulations of 5 to 15 inches farther south toward the lower Texas coast, farther west toward the Texas Hill Country, and farther east through southwest and central Louisiana, the weather service said. 
 
 But Houston was the focal point of the disaster. The National Weather Service said parts of Harris County had been hit with more than 20 inches of rain in 24 hours. Jeff Lindner, a meteorologist with the county Flood Control District, called the rainfall totals "staggering." 
 
 He tweeted late Sunday night that Buffalo Bayou was more than 7 feet above flood stage: "Catastrophic flooding is in progress." 
 
 Buffalo Bayou at West Belt is 7.28 ft above flood stage. Catastrophic flooding is in progress #houwx#hounews#txwx — Jeff Lindner (@JeffLindner1) August 28, 2017 
 
 This is “worse than the worst-case scenario for Houston,” tweeted WeatherBell meteorologist Ryan Maue. 
 
 This storm will not break our spirit. We are in this together and we will rebuild even greater together after #HurricaneHarvey — Sylvester Turner (@SylvesterTurner) August 27, 2017 
 
 Mayor Sylvester Turner said emergency officials had been overwhelmed with about 6,000 rescue calls and more than 56,000 calls to 911; he urged residents not to call unless their situation was life-threatening. He ordered the city's George R. Brown convention center opened as a shelter. 
 
 Turner confirmed one death in Houston, saying a woman drowned trying to flee her car in high water. Another death was reported in a house fire in coastal Aransas County. 
 
 Turner defended his administration's decision not to call for evacuations ahead of the storm, saying it was too difficult to determine which areas of the sprawling city of 2.3 million people were likely to take the worst hit. The entire city has seen at least some flooding, he added. 
 
 “You give an order to evacuate, you are creating a nightmare," he said. 
 
 Officials were urging people to stay off of the roads. "It's so dangerous that people would give themselves the death penalty," said Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo, who was out with his officers making water rescues in his saturated city Sunday. "Sad, breaks your heart for our city and our state," Acevedo said. "But it's Texas. We'll get through it." 
 
 The floodwaters themselves are a hideous, toxic brew, with reports of alligators and swarming fire ants in the water. 
 
 The storm made landfall Friday night in Aransas County, southwest of Houston, as a furious, Category 4 hurricane with winds exceeding 130 mph. Sheriff Bill Mills said about 30 people were treated for injuries in his county alone. 
 
 Two Aransas County municipalities, Rockport, with a population of 10,000, and Port Aransas, with about 4,000 people, took the brunt of the storm. At least 10 injuries were reported from collapsed roofs in Rockport, which is 25 miles northeast of Corpus Christi and 220 miles southwest of Houston. 
 
 More: Corpus Christi breathes sigh of relief, prepares for post-Harvey cleanup 
 
 More: Texas homeowner shoots intruder as Harvey makes landfall 
 
 Nearby Port Aransas was particularly vulnerable perched on a narrow strip of Mustang Island, which sits at the entrance to Corpus Christi Bay. It registered the strongest wind gust of 132 mph from Harvey, according to the National Weather Service. 
 
 The two towns, like dozens over others in the area, reported widespread damage as emergency teams searched for any survivors trapped in low-lying areas or collapsed buildings. 
 
 Meteorologists were awed by the scope of the disaster. 
 
 “This could easily be one of the worst flooding disasters in U.S. history,” tweeted Weather Channel meteorologist Greg Postel, who said he cannot think of an analogous flood event. 
 
 Homer reports for KHOU-TV in Texas; Bacon for USA TODAY in McLean, Va. Contributing: Doyle Rice, Rick Jervis, USA TODAY; Julie Garcia, John C. Moritz, Corpus Christi Caller Times 
 
 Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2wJx7kz ||||| Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. 
 
 / Updated By Kalhan Rosenblatt 
 
 As another death was blamed on Hurricane Harvey on Monday, Texas officials defended their decision not to order a mandatory evacuation for millions of Houston-area residents. 
 
 A 60-year-old woman in east Montgomery County, north of Houston, died when a tree fell on her while she slept, the sheriff's office said, raising the confirmed number of deaths to three as historic flooding and unrelenting rains continued to cripple the region. 
 
 Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said at a news conference Monday that he had activated the entire 12,000-member Texas National Guard to help respond to recovery efforts in the disaster, which is potentially affecting more than 50 counties. 
 
 The "biggest challenge, first, is making sure we get everyone to a safe place," Abbott told reporters before touring the coastal community of Rockport, where Harvey made landfall as a powerful Category 4 hurricane Friday. 
 
 Mandatory evacuations were ordered for several counties along Texas' Gulf coast just hours before the hurricane made landfall. 
 
 But further inland, in cities like Houston, which is in Harris County, evacuation orders were never given. This is because of the uncertainty of the storm and the narrow window given to move millions of people, Harris County Judge Ed Emmett said on NBC's TODAY. 
 
 Emmett, the chief executive officer of Harris County, coordinates four county commissioners while overseeing local government actions. 
 
 Related: Life-Threatening Rain Hammers Houston 
 
 "When a hurricane comes, you know to get people out of harm's way, you know where the storm surge is going to hit. So we have a very defined process for moving people out of storm surge," Emmett said. 
 
 "With a rain event over a county of 4½ million people, you don't know exactly where the rain is going to fall, you don't know which neighborhoods are going to flood, so if we had gone out three days before and said we want 4 million people to leave Harris County, that would have been a totally nonsensical thing to do." 
 
 Related: 'Cajun Navy' Rushes to Rescue Strangers From Harvey 
 
 But that sentiment wasn't fully echoed by Abbott, who said at a news conference Friday, as the storm was bearing down, that residents needed to listen to their instincts, even if no official had given an order to evacuate. 
 
 A Texas National Guardsman carries a woman from her flooded home in Houston on Sunday following Hurricane Harvey. Lt. Zachary West / Army National Guard via Getty Images 
 
 "Even if an evacuation order hasn't been issued by your local official, if you're in an area between Corpus Christi and Houston, you need to strongly consider evacuating. What you don't know, and what nobody else knows right now, is the magnitude of flooding that will be coming," Abbott said Friday. 
 
 Abbott warned that if residents didn't leave, they could be putting themselves in harm's way. Voluntary evacuation orders have since been issued for small parts of the greater Houston area. 
 
 About 20 inches of rain fell on parts of Houston, causing widespread flooding, and more than 2,000 rescues have been performed. Helicopters landed on highways to get people out of the affected areas, while good Samaritans used kayaks and canoes to free people from the flooding. 
 
 But Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner stood by his decision not to order the evacuation, saying it was impossible to put millions of people on the road. 
 
 Turner said at a news conference on Sunday that he had no regrets about telling people to stay put. 
 
 "One, if you can recall, there was a lot of conversation about the direction in which Hurricane Harvey was going to go," Turner said. "No one knew which direction it was going to go. So it's kind of difficult to send people away from danger when you don't know where the danger is. Number two, that kind of evacuation in a couple days — the logistics would have been crazy." 
 
 Emmett agreed with Turner's decision, saying it would have been foolish to send people away when the storm's path was unclear. 
 
 "We didn't know where it was going to flood. We didn't know what neighborhoods were going to flood, and the truth is, if we had told people to do that, they probably would have either laughed at us or ignored it," Emmett said. 
 
 Related: Everything You Need to Know About Hurricane Harvey 
 
 Turner's decision not to issue a sweeping evacuation of Houston was partly based on the chaos caused by a mandatory evacuation that was ordered in 2005 as Category 5 Hurricane Rita barreled toward Texas. 
 
 "Chaotic 2005 traffic with Hurricane Rita lurking was tragic. No official has issued evac order for Houston now. Calm and care! #Harvey," Turner tweeted on Friday. 
 
 As 2.5 million Houstonians fled, gridlock lasting nearly 24 hours trapped residents on highways and roads. The evacuation killed nearly as many people as the storm itself, which caused an estimated $12 billion in damage, according to The Houston Chronicle. Rita killed 120 people, according to HurricaneScience.org, an educational resource developed by the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography. ||||| A power generator tips in front of Texas' CHRISTUS Spohn Hospital in Corpus Christi, Texas, as Hurricane Harvey hits Friday, Aug. 25, 2017. (Courtney Sacco /Corpus Christi Caller-Times via AP) (Associated Press) 
 
 CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (AP) — The Latest on Tropical Storm Harvey (all times local): 
 
 8:25 a.m. 
 
 President Donald Trump says he will be traveling to Texas "as soon as that trip can be made without causing disruption" in the wake of Hurricane Harvey. 
 
 Trump tweeted that the "focus must be life and safety." 
 
 At least two people are dead and more than a dozen injured due to the storm that has battered the region, including the cities of Corpus Christi and Houston. 
 
 Trump has been complimenting the response to the storm on his Twitter feed, commending "Great coordination between agencies at all levels of government." 
 
 Trump adds that: "Many people are now saying that this is the worst storm/hurricane they have ever seen. Good news is that we have great talent on the ground." 
 
 The storm could linger for days in the region and could unload as much as 40 inches of rain on cities including Houston. 
 
 ___ 
 
 8:15 a.m. 
 
 The U.S. Coast Guard says it's received more than 300 requests for urban search and rescue in the Houston area. 
 
 The Coast Guard has five helicopters working the emergency calls and is asking for additional helicopters from New Orleans to help. 
 
 Officials are advising people in dire straits to get to the roofs of their homes and mark them somehow to be seen from the air. They're suggesting people wave sheets or towels. 
 
 ___ 
 
 7:45 a.m. 
 
 Flooding in some parts of the county that includes the city of Houston is so bad that residents are being urged to seek refuge on their roofs. 
 
 Harris County Flood Control District official Jeff Lindner says people inundated by rising waters shouldn't crawl into attics of their homes but should get on top of them. 
 
 He says rainfall of more than 4 inches per hour has sent water higher than in recent Houston floods side and are exceeding levels seen in Tropical Storm Allison in June 2001. 
 
 Lindner says areas south of the city appear hard-hit and some flooding is reported in downtown Houston and in the Texas Medical Center, which was devastated in Allison. 
 
 He calls Harvey "a different animal" from Allison and a "historic situation." 
 
 He says he's most amazed that he's getting reports "of water into second-story of apartments and homes." Considering Houston's flat terrain, "it's very rare to get that depth of water." 
 
 ___ 
 
 6:20 a.m. 
 
 Authorities say rescue attempts continue in Houston for those stranded inside flooded homes and submerged vehicles in the wake of Harvey. 
 
 The Houston Chronicle reports that hundreds of calls have been fielded for water rescues as of early Sunday, including Houston police officials who evacuated two apartment complexes and rescued more than 50 children. 
 
 Meanwhile, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez and Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner on Sunday continued urging residents via Twitter to "shelter in place" and stay off rain-swollen roadways. 
 
 Gonzalez actively used Twitter overnight to field assistance for those trapped inside water-soaked homes, attics and vehicles. Those appealing for assistance or being steered to help via Gonzalez's Twitter feed included a person suffering "cardiac-arrest," and a woman who posted: "I have 2 children with me and the water is swallowing us up. Please send help." 
 
 Gonzalez at one point appealed for calm and patience, saying officials were "trying to make it to everyone as best we can." 
 
 Turner's official Twitter account said "911 services at capacity. If u can shelter in place do so, a few inches in your home is not imminent danger. Only call if in imminent danger." 
 
 ___ 
 
 4:03 a.m. 
 
 The National Hurricane Center says Harvey continues to cause "catastrophic flooding in southeastern Texas." 
 
 The hurricane center says in its 4 a.m. Sunday update that the tropical storm has maximum sustained winds of 45 mph (72.42 kph) and remains stationary about 45 miles (72.42 kilometers) northwest of Victoria, Texas. 
 
 A storm surge warning and a tropical storm warning also are both in effect for Port O'Connor to Sargent. The hurricane center says a storm surge warning means there is a danger of life-threatening inundation from rising water moving inland from the coastline. 
 
 The center says Harvey is likely to weaken to a tropical depression later Sunday. Harvey made landfall Friday night as a Category 4 hurricane. 
 
 Meanwhile, the National Weather Service says a Flash Flood Emergency over west and central Harris County, where Houston is located, as well as for eastern Fort Bend and northern Brazoria counties remains in effect until 6:15 a.m. Sunday, calling it a "Particularly Dangerous Situation." 
 
 ___ 
 
 2:11 a.m. 
 
 Jersey Village, Texas, officials are recommending that people who live along the White Oak Bayou, about 17 miles northwest of Houston, consider whether they need to evacuate their homes. 
 
 Jersey Village City Manager Austin Bleess says the city issued a notice to residents about 1:30 a.m. saying the bayou looked like it would be out of its banks before long. He says city officials worried that streets may soon become impassable and wanted those residents to have time to make arrangements. 
 
 "Certainly if people can stay in their homes, they can do that," Bleess said. "It's quite possible that the streets could get impassable so we wanted to get that recommendation out." 
 
 Bleess says the city is in the process of opening a storm shelter at the Champion Forest Baptist Church, Jersey Village chapter. 
 
 ___ 
 
 1:20 a.m. 
 
 The National Hurricane Center says Harvey continues to weaken at a slow pace as it produces torrential rains across parts of Southeast Texas. 
 
 In its early Sunday update, the hurricane center said the tropical storm has maximum sustained winds of 45 mph (72.42 kph) and it is practically stationary about 45 miles (72.42 kilometers) northwest of Victoria, Texas. 
 
 The airport in Austin, about 165 miles (265.53 kilometers) west of Houston, reported sustained winds of 38 mph. 
 
 The center says Harvey is likely to weaken to a tropical depression later Sunday. Harvey made landfall Friday night as a Category 4 hurricane. 
 
 Meanwhile, the National Weather Service extended a Flash Flood Emergency over west and central Harris County, where Houston is located, as well as for eastern Fort Bend and northern Brazoria counties until 6:15 a.m. Sunday, calling it a "Particularly Dangerous Situation." 
 
 ___ 
 
 12:30 a.m. 
 
 At least two people have died as Tropical Storm Harvey continues to dump rain on Southeast Texas. 
 
 The Harris County medical examiner's office confirmed the death of one person late Saturday in Harris County, but the office did not identify the cause of death. 
 
 Gary Norman, a spokesman for the Houston emergency operations center, says the woman appeared to have gotten out of her vehicle in high water. She was found by neighbors about 30 yards away from the vehicle. Norman says she was pronounced dead at the scene by a doctor who was in the area. 
 
 Earlier Saturday, Aransas County Judge C.H. "Burt" Mills Jr. said the storm left one person dead in the county. 
 
 Harvey came ashore Friday night as a Category 4 hurricane, but has since been downgraded to a tropical storm. ||||| Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner defended his decision not issue an evacuation order for Houston. (Reuters) 
 
 Through Monday morning, Harvey continued to unleash record levels of rain on Houston, causing “catastrophic” flooding in the city and in surrounding Harris County, where at least six people appear to have died as a result of the storm. 
 
 Some parts of Harris County have received more than 30 inches of rain since Friday, according to the National Weather Service. The NWS warned of “additional catastrophic, unprecedented and life threatening flooding” through this week and placed flash-flood emergencies for all of Southeast Texas. 
 
 As the much-anticipated storm pummeled the country’s fourth-largest city — overwhelming the 911 system and sending some residents, against the advice of officials, into their attics to flee floodwaters — many asked the question: Should Houston have been evacuated? If so, why wasn’t it? 
 
 At least one top official thought it should have been. 
 
 On Friday, before Harvey made landfall, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) encouraged residents to evacuate low lying and coastal areas, even if a mandatory evacuation order had not been issued. 
 
 “Even if an evacuation order hasn’t been issued by your local official, if you’re in an area between Corpus Christi and Houston, you need to strongly consider evacuating,” Abbott said at a news conference. “What you don’t know, and what nobody else knows right now, is the magnitude of flooding that will be coming. 
 
 “You don’t want to put yourself in a situation where you could be subject to a search and rescue.” 
 
 The governor’s warning was in sharp contrast to the advice local and county officials had been dispensing for days: Shelter and stay in place. 
 
 And it set off a scramble by local officials on social media to tell Houston-area residents otherwise. 
 
 “LOCAL LEADERS KNOW BEST,” Francisco Sanchez, spokesman for the Harris County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, tweeted in response to Abbott’s warning. 
 
 There were no evacuation orders in Houston, and orders only existed in a few communities in Harris County, Sanchez stressed on Friday afternoon. 
 
 In a follow-up tweet, Sanchez urged residents to heed the advice of local officials, such as Harris County Judge Ed Emmett and Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, rather than the governor. 
 
 I live here. I work here. I know here. My job is to protect people here. Local officials like @EdEmmett @SylvesterTurner know best. https://t.co/4H5cgJ97h6 — Francisco Sanchez (@DisasterPIO) August 25, 2017 
 
 Harris County Judge Ed Emmett on why he's not telling Houston residents to evacuate from #HurricaneHarvey despite Texas Governor's comment pic.twitter.com/3sQNCk5iV7 — Nomaan Merchant (@NomaanMerchant) August 25, 2017 
 
 On Saturday morning, as Hurricane Harvey’s powerful winds and rain caused severe damage to coastal communities, the Houston mayor warned people there would be heavy rain and flooding in the city for the next four to five days — but once again emphasized they did not need to evacuate. 
 
 Turner also addressed concerns that Abbott and local officials had sent conflicting messages about what was safer: fleeing or staying in place. 
 
 “Quite frankly, leaving your homes, getting on the streets, you’ll be putting yourself in more danger and not making yourself safer,” he said. “And so, we’re just asking people to hunker down.” 
 
 The following day, as the storm’s devastating toll came into better focus, Turner defended his call for people to stay in place. 
 
 “There was a lot of conversation about the direction in which hurricane Harvey was going to go,” he said at a news conference Sunday. “No one knew which direction it was going to go. So it’s kind of different to send people away from danger when you don’t know where the danger is.” 
 
 He added that trying to evacuate the city in such a short time would have been logistically “crazy,” as history has shown. 
 
 “Remember the last time we evacuated, there was a great deal of confusion, great deal of chaos,” the mayor said. “There were people that were going to Austin that were on the road 10 to 12 hours, if not longer. There were people who ran out of gas on their way — a great deal of confusion.” 
 
 Turner was referring to the city’s evacuation ahead of Hurricane Rita in 2005, a disastrous effort that resulted in dozens of deaths and widespread criticism of the authorities. 
 
 Emmett, Harris County’s chief executive, echoed Turner’s thoughts Sunday, telling reporters there was “absolutely no reason” to evacuate the city before the storm. 
 
 “You cannot put, in the city of Houston, 2.3 million people on the road. … That is dangerous,” the judge said, according to CNN. “If you think the situation right now is bad — you give an order to evacuate, you create a nightmare.” 
 
 And during a record breaking flood, one expert said, inside a car is one of the most dangerous places to be, which complicates the decision to evacuate. 
 
 “People disproportionately die in cars from floods, so evacuation is not as straightforward a call as seems,” Marshall Shepherd, a program director in atmospheric sciences at the University of Georgia, tweeted Sunday. 
 
 Still, reports and images from Houston and Harris County showed it was increasingly difficult for people to stay off the streets. 
 
 This image and the forecast of what is still to fall…. This is surreal. #HoustonFlood #Harvey pic.twitter.com/zK9WojsMAH — Matthew Sitkowski (@MattSitkowski) August 27, 2017 
 
 As The Washington Post reported, Texas officials had begun to get a sense of the full magnitude of the storm, including its effect on rivers and levees: 
 
 The Brazos River, which runs southwest of Houston, is expected to reach record heights in the coming days. National Weather Service models showed the river rising to 59 feet by Tuesday, topping the previous record of 54.7 feet. “A flood of this magnitude is an 800-year event, and it exceeds the design specification of our levees,” Fort Bend County Judge Robert Hebert said in a statement Monday. The National Weather Service — which tweeted the “beyond anything experienced” description that morning — was predicting that parts of Texas could receive nearly 50 inches of rain, the largest recorded total in the state’s history. 
 
 FEMA Administrator William “Brock” Long said Monday that Harvey could force 30,000 people into shelters, and he anticipated 450,000 people would seek some sort of disaster assistance. 
 
 “We have not seen an event like this,” he said. “You could not draw this forecast up. You could not dream this forecast up.” 
 
 [Trump praises storm response as millions brace for historic flooding] 
 
 Houston and Harris County officials who urged people to stay home before the storm may have been remembering that the city government was strongly criticized after the disastrous evacuation before Hurricane Rita in 2005. 
 
 In the hours before Rita struck the Houston area in September 2005, government officials issued an evacuation order, and some 2.5 million people hit the road at the same time, according to the Houston Chronicle. 
 
 Officials later reported more than 100 deaths connected to Hurricane Rita — and at least 60 of those deaths were linked the evacuation itself, according to a 2006 report to the Texas House of Representatives. 
 
 Dozens were injured or died of heat stroke waiting in traffic for nearly a full day. Fights broke out on clogged highways. A charter bus carrying people from a nursing home exploded on the side of Interstate 45, killing 24 people inside. 
 
 Meanwhile, the fear from Hurricane Rita turned out to be unfounded. It weakened from a Category 5 churning in the Gulf of Mexico to a Category 3 by the time it made landfall in East Texas — and resulted in a fraction of the damage and deaths as Hurricane Katrina, which had ravaged New Orleans three weeks earlier. 
 
 After Hurricane Rita, many in Houston returned to their homes after hours of languishing on the highway “and found the house was fine and the street wasn’t flooded,” according to Madhu Beriwal, the president and chief executive of IEM, a disaster planning and prevention company who has worked in Harris County. Her company wasn’t involved in planning for Hurricane Harvey, and she said she did not advise officials about whether to evacuate the city. 
 
 In evacuation planning, public officials are trying to find “the course of least regret,” Beriwal said. Traveling by car has inherent risks, and any mandatory evacuation order comes with the grim understanding that people will die trying to get out, she added. 
 
 “We know that there’s going to result in a certain number of deaths just by having so many people on the road,” Beriwal told The Post. “When you have evacuation traffic, it’s even more difficult, because you have people that are very vulnerable traveling. … The people that tend to die in bigger numbers (during evacuations) are generally the elderly — people that wouldn’t normally be on the road anyway.” 
 
 But no matter which path officials decide to take, Beriwal said, “It is always better to speak with one voice so people know what the officials think is the best thing to do.” 
 
 After Rita, officials began changing laws and government programs to improve future evacuations. 
 
 The state’s emergency management division began to work more closely with municipalities to coordinate hurricane response plans, the Texas Tribune reported, “including finding ways to restore power sooner.” 
 
 Lawmakers amended statutes to make it easier for emergency workers from other parts of the state to help during a crisis, the Tribune reported, and removed liability worries that hindered mutual aid. 
 
 Now, state and local authorities participate in drills to reverse the traffic flow on the highway to “ensure various agencies stay familiar with the process.” 
 
 On Monday, Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo was asked by a Fox Business Network anchor whether it was a mistake not to order an evacuation ahead of Harvey. 
 
 “Oh lord, you know I love the backseat quarterbacks,” he said. “I absolutely support the decision of our mayor and the county judge to not evacuate. Where do you take … 6.5 million people, where do you send them? Especially in a state that is so prone to flash floods on our highways, we haven’t been able to get resources here because highways have been blocked throughout the state of Texas. 
 
 “So I don’t think they understand the complexity, they don’t understand just how widespread this entire emergency has been.” 
 
 Texas State Rep. Armando Walle, who represents a district that stretches from northern reaches of Houston into unincorporated parts of Harris County, told The Post on Monday the decision against ordering evacuations probably saved lives. 
 
 “You would have had a calamity of biblical proportions; that’s not an overstatement,” he said. “If you put 1 million cars on the road when every major road in this region is under water, it would have been a disaster. There are challenges in any disaster, but that decision not to call for mandatory evacuations was the right decision. I believe that you would have had thousands of people perish. … People have listened to their local leaders and are paying attention.” 
 
 1 of 74 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad × Harvey drops nearly two feet of rain on Houston, causing catastrophic flooding View Photos The hurricane, which has weakened to a tropical storm, is the first Category 4 storm to hit the United States since Charley in 2004. Harvey has destroyed homes, severed power supplies and caused severe flooding. Caption The hurricane, which has weakened to a tropical storm, is the first Category 4 storm to hit the United States since Charley in 2004. Harvey has destroyed homes, severed power supplies and caused severe flooding. Aug. 27, 2017 Two kayakers try to beat the current of an overflowing Brays Bayou in Houston. Rescuers answered hundreds of calls for help as floodwaters from the remnants of Hurricane Harvey began to fill second-story homes. Mark Mulligan/AP Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue. 
 
 This post has been updated. 
 
 Read more: 
 
 FEMA director says Harvey is probably the worst disaster in Texas history 
 
 Catastrophic flooding underway in Houston and ‘expected to worsen’ 
 
 Harvey drops nearly two feet of water on Houston area, causing deadly floods 
 
 ‘All night of slam, bang, boom,’ then a scramble to assess the hurricane’s damage ||||| (CNN) Hurricane Harvey made landfall Friday night between Port Aransas and Port O'Connor, Texas, as a Category 4 storm with winds of 130 mph, the National Hurricane Center said. 
 
 Harvey is the first Category 4 hurricane to make landfall in the United States since Hurricane Charley in 2004. 
 
 The storm is poundng the Texas coast and its millions of residents with hurricane-force winds knocking down trees, power poles and signs, and with torrential rain deluging streets. 
 
 In its 11 p.m. ET update, the National Hurricane Center said the center of the storm had passed over San Jose Island, bringing with it a dangerous and powerful eye wall. 
 
 The hurricane center warns that some areas will see as much as 13 feet of storm surge and large, destructive waves. 
 
 And there's the rain that the slow-moving storm is expected to produce. Because it is expected to come to a near halt inland, Harvey could drop as much as 40 inches of rain in some places, and up to 30 inches in others, by Wednesday. 
 
 #Harvey made landfall at 10 PM CDT as a category 4 hurricane near Rockport, Texas, with max winds of 130 mph and min pressure of 938 mb. pic.twitter.com/98y5wpKmBw — NHC Atlantic Ops (@NHC_Atlantic) August 26, 2017 
 
 The combination of wind and water could leave wide swaths of South Texas "uninhabitable for weeks or months," the National Weather Service in Houston said. 
 
 Such daunting language hasn't been seen by CNN's experts since Hurricane Katrina , which left more than 1,800 people dead in 2005. 
 
 The threat has prompted officials in at least one town to ask residents who stay behind to write their Social Security numbers on one of their arms in case. It will make identifying bodies easier. 
 
 "Texas is about to have a very significant disaster," said Brock Long, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. 
 
 Gov. Greg Abbott warned of record-setting flooding and called on people to flee the area before the storm hits. 
 
 "My top goal is to be able to make it through this storm in a way in which we lose no lives," Abbott said. "Put your life first and your property second." 
 
 The golden arches atop a McDonald's in Galveston were downed by high winds. 
 
 Residents were urged to evacuate. A mass exodus from the coast caused extensive traffic jams along the state's highways, while other people boarded up windows and stocked up on food and water ahead of the storm, the effects of which are expected to last for days. 
 
 The storm will stall and dump rain on South Texas and parts of Louisiana into the middle of next week, forecasters predicted. 
 
 Latest developments 
 
 -- Rockport, Texas, officials are advising residents who refuse to evacuate to write their names and Social Security number on a forearm, Mayor Pro Tem Patrick Rios told CNN. Rios said it will "help out first responders should they find a body." 
 
 -- The National Weather Service in Corpus Christi issued an extreme wind warning for portions of the Texas coast. "Widespread destructive winds of 115 to 145 mph will produce swaths of tornado-like damage," the agency said. 
 
 -- Texas' governor requested additional federal help with a presidential disaster declaration. The White House is considering the declaration. 
 
 -- President Donald Trump, who will visit the area next week, has signed a disaster declaration for the state. 
 
 I encourage everyone in the path of #HurricaneHarvey to heed the advice & orders of their local and state officials. https://t.co/N6uEWCZUrv — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 25, 2017 
 
 FEMA prepared for 'significant disaster' 
 
 JUST WATCHED What Hurricane Harvey looks like from space Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH What Hurricane Harvey looks like from space 00:41 
 
 Those who stay should "elevate and get into a structure that can withstand potentially Category 3 winds from a hurricane," said Long, the FEMA director. 
 
 "The bottom line message is, right now, if people have not heeded the warning, again, their window to do so is closing," Long said. "If they refuse to heed the warning, that's on them." 
 
 Long said he is "very worried" about storm surge, or "wind-driven water," slamming coastal areas, saying it has the "highest potential to kill the most amount of people and cause the most amount of damage." 
 
 Trump tweeted that he has spoken with the governors of Texas and Louisiana, saying he is "closely monitoring Hurricane Harvey developments and here to assist as needed." 
 
 Record flooding expected 
 
 Christopher Beafneaux, left, Ernesto Villarreal, center, and Roman Lopez board up windows of a business in Galveston. 
 
 Officials worried that Harvey's deluge of rain will drench Texas and the region for several days. 
 
 "We could see this storm park for almost five days in some places, and we hear three feet of rain," said Bill Read, the former director of the National Hurricane Center. "That's just going to be a huge problem for these areas." 
 
 "The water is going to be the issue," Corpus Christi Mayor Joe McComb said. "We've never had anything like this." 
 
 Harvey is also causing concern in New Orleans, where heavy rain could usher in as much as 20 inches of rain through early next week and overwhelm the city's already-compromised drainage system 
 
 Storm nears shore 
 
 Joey Walker, 25, works with the Galveston Island Beach Patrol and is riding out the storm from a house on Galveston Island. He posted video of near-white out conditions overlooking Stewart Beach. 
 
 Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said anyone not leaving should plan to stay off the roads once the storm starts. 
 
 "People need to know, this is not a one-, two-day event and done," Turner said. 
 
 'I'm trying to be strong' 
 
 The threat of Harvey became evident Thursday when several coastal Texas counties issued evacuation orders, leading to hordes of residents sitting bumper to bumper for miles. 
 
 Traffic on Interstate 37 between San Antonio and Corpus Christi was backed up for miles Thursday. 
 
 Rose Yepez told CNN it took her twice as long as usual to drive 140 miles from Corpus Christi to San Antonio, en route to Texas Hill Country. 
 
 Private vehicles -- along with city buses packed with adults and children carrying backpacks -- jammed roads for hours. 
 
 "I'm shaking inside, but for them, I'm trying to be strong," a Corpus Christi woman who was waiting with her two daughters to board a bus out of town told CNN affiliate KRIS. 
 
 Workers at 39 offshore petroleum production platforms and an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico also evacuated Thursday, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said. 
 
 A sign reading "Be Nice Harvey" was left behind on a boarded-up business in Port Aransas. 
 
 First responders such as Brittany Fowler stayed behind and waited for the storm. 
 
 "Hopefully, it doesn't do any damage, but if it does, we've prepared," Fowler, a firefighter in Corpus Christi, wrote on Instagram. 
 
 Fowler's family helped by boarding up windows and doors at her home, and she bought plenty of water, food and a small power generator. 
 
 Special thank you to my Dad, brother and Marz for boarding up the house and getting it squared away for #Harvey! Hopefully it doesn't do any damage but if it does we've prepared. #HurricaneHarvey #WeatherChannel #CorpusChristi #hurricane #gulfcoast A post shared by Brittany Fowler (@bafowler1) on Aug 24, 2017 at 1:56pm PDT 
 
 Despite the warnings, Elsie and David Reichenbacher prepped supplies and planned to stay put in Corpus Christi. 
 
 "I've gone through a lot of hurricanes. I've lived here most of my life," Elsie Reichenbacher said. "I'd rather take care of my home and my animals and be safe here. I'm on high ground with my house." ||||| AUSTIN, Texas — The first mandatory evacuations of the Houston area were ordered early Monday morning, four days after it was first clear Hurricane Harvey would drown America’s fourth-largest city. 
 
 What is now Tropical Storm Harvey dropped more than two feet of rain on Houston in 24 hours before a brief pause Sunday. The storm is expected to move back into the Gulf of Mexico, recharge, and dump more rain onto Houston by Wednesday. Fifty inches of rain are expected in some areas by the end of the week. 
 
 Already the storm has killed six people, rendered thousands homeless, and trapped 7 million people, one-quarter of Texas’ population, in a federally designated disaster area. 
 
 Officials in Harris and Fort Bend counties told some residents Monday morning to leave ahead of imminent flooding. The Brazos River southwest of Houston is expected to swell to 60 feet and overtop levees. There are fears the levees may fail, in a repeat of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Meanwhile, people living downstream from reservoirs designed to protect downtown Houston from flooding have been told to prepare for the controlled release of water by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to relieve pressure on dams. 
 
 When the storm previously known as Hurricane Harvey made landfall Friday, it was the strongest storm to batter the U.S. coast in 13 years and the worst to hit Texas since 1961. 
 
 Texas Gov. Greg Abbott told Houston residents that even in the absence of an official evacuation order, “you need to strongly consider evacuating.” 
 
 But there was immediate pushback from Houston officials, who said they knew better. 
 
 Harris County’s emergency management spokesperson, Francisco Sanchez, responded to Abbott’s suggestion on Twitter this way: 
 
 “Local officials know best. Houston has no evacuation order. In Harris County: very limited to select communities. LOCAL LEADERS KNOW BEST.” 
 
 One person tweeted back, “You’re going to feel stupid if this storm proves you wrong.” Sanchez replied: “Actually we feel quite blessed. And, thankful for the first responders & public safety officials that are working to keep us safe.” 
 
 Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said on Friday that evacuation was not necessary. 
 
 “There are a number of people who are in Hurricane Harvey’s direct path, and evacuation orders have been given to them. But for the Houston area… this is a rainmaker for us. There’s no need for people to be thinking about putting themselves in greater danger.” 
 
 Get The Beast In Your Inbox! Daily Digest Start and finish your day with the top stories from The Daily Beast. Cheat Sheet A speedy, smart summary of all the news you need to know (and nothing you don't). By clicking “Subscribe,” you agree to have read the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Subscribe Thank You! You are now subscribed to the Daily Digest and Cheat Sheet. We will not share your email with anyone for any reason. 
 
 Harris County Judge Ed Emmett said the safest thing for Houston residents was for them to “stay where you are and ride out the storm… We don’t anticipate any kind of massive evacuation.” 
 
 Now it’s too late to leave the city, with almost every roadway in and out closed. Even Sanchez admitted as much on Twitter: “I can keep telling you to stay put, but the reality is YOU CAN’T GET ANYWHERE RIGHT NOW.” 
 
 More than 250 highways in Texas are closed, Abbott said. 
 
 Turner defended the decision not to evacuate Sunday, saying, “You can’t put 6.5 million people on the roads,” referring to the population of the metro Houston area. 
 
 Kathleen Blanco, who was Louisiana’s governor during Hurricane Katrina, told The Daily Beast on Sunday that an advanced plan on how to evacuate the most susceptible to flooding is what was needed. 
 
 “It’s not apparent to us watching that they have developed a sensible evacuation formula,” she said. “You have to allow people in the southernmost regions to get out the quickest. You can’t tell everyone to leave at the same time or you end up with gridlock, especially in a big urban center.” 
 
 Blanco said 1.3 million people were evacuated from the New Orleans area before Katrina hit. (She was criticized for rebuffing the Bush administration’s request to federalize the evacuation of New Orleans after Katrina made landfall.) That same year, Houston ordered evacuations for Hurricane Rita, putting 2.5 million people on the roads. More than 100 evacuees died. 
 
 “I was just talking today with relatives there in Houston because I was concerned about them,” Blanco said. “They said they were not going to evacuate again because during Rita they got a few blocks from their home and couldn’t get up on the interstate. Just traveling those few blocks took 12 hours because of the gridlock.” 
 
 Regardless of the wisdom of evacuation for Harvey, it should’ve been clear Houston would flood. 
 
 Meteorologist Eric Holthaus told The Daily Beast that by midday last Wednesday there had been “pretty compelling model agreement on major flooding” and that the “upgrade in forecast to major hurricane on Thursday morning, I think, made most meteorologists absolutely convinced. 
 
 “Keep in mind, though,” he added, “there’s never been a mandatory evacuation based on a rainfall forecast, so I’m not sure that people even knew what to do with a forecast as dire as this one.” 
 
 Houston was a sitting duck for the next big hurricane, as ProPublica reported last year. 
 
 “Unchecked development is wiping out the pasture land that once soaked up floodwaters,” ProPublica reported. “Houston’s rapid expansion has greatly worsened the danger posed by flooding.” 
 
 Ironically, refugees driven from New Orleans by Katrina in 2005 ended up in the Houston Astrodome, where Sanchez had his first experience with emergency management communications. 
 
 “When it comes to alerts and warnings, it’s something that to me is very important personally,” Sanchez told said in an interview last year. “When you’re put in these sorts of positions, you have that responsibility.” 
 
 Blanco, who did not run for re-election following Katrina, said it’s a no-win situation, with millions of lives at stake, few resources, and little room for error. 
 
 “There is always a lot of finger pointing, even when it’s semi-successful,” she said. “A disaster creates a situation people find untenable and the citizenry suffers, and they want someone to blame.”
– Texas is bracing for the arrival of Hurricane Harvey, a storm that meteorologists say could turn into a slow-moving "monster" that batters the state for several days. Harvey is expected to make landfall as a Category 3 hurricane late Friday or early Saturday, and AccuWeather meteorologist Alex Sosnowski says it "may be nothing short of a flooding disaster" for Texas, USA Today reports. Forecasters say that after it moves ashore, Harvey is likely to end up trapped between two areas of high pressure, keeping it stalled over Texas for up to five days, dumping as much as 35 inches of rain on parts of the state. The latest developments: The National Weather Service says ingredients including warm water and calm air high up have made Harvey a potentially life-threatening storm, with a possible storm surge 12 feet high and winds up to 125mph. "It's a very dangerous storm," National Weather Service Director Louis Uccellini tells the AP. "It does have all the ingredients it needs to intensify. And we're seeing that intensification occur quite rapidly." The service's safety resources can be found here. The latest from the National Hurricane Center is here. Harvey strengthened to a Category 2 hurricane early Friday, CNN reports. Several counties along the coast had already issued evacuation orders. If it does become a Category 3 by the time it is expected to make landfall around 70 miles northeast of Corpus Christi, it will be the first storm that size to hit the US since Hurricane Wilma in Oct. 2005 The Corpus Christi Caller-Times looks at what people can expect from a Category 3 hurricane—and at what people who choose to ride it out instead of following recommendations to evacuate should do. With massive flooding and power outages possible in the Houston area, people have been rushing to stock up on essentials, causing chaos at grocery stores and gas stations, the Houston Chronicle reports. Liquor stores are also experiencing a huge rise in demand. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's office says President Trump has called the governor and offered whatever federal resources are needed, KHOU reports. Abbott has already declared a state of disaster in 30 counties. He has also activated 700 Texas National Guard members. Interstate 37's northbound lanes were clogged with traffic late Thursday as people fled the Corpus Christi area. "There is no doubt in my mind that the city will flood," resident Angie Flores, who went to Austin with her husband and their four dogs, tells the American-Statesman. "There are some people who aren't going to leave because they think it’s going to be a good time. I worry about them."