Hurricane Harvey settled over southeast Texas early Saturday, lashing the state's Gulf Coast with damaging winds and dumping torrents of rain over hundreds of kilometres of coastline that braced for what forecasters predicted would be life-threatening storm surges — basically walls of water moving inland.

The fiercest hurricane to hit the U.S. in more than a decade made landfall the previous night about 48 kilometres northeast of Corpus Christi as a Category 4 storm with 209 km/h winds. It gradually weakened over the next several hours and by 5 a.m. ET forecasters said the maximum sustained winds had slowed to around 155 km/h, with higher gusts.
• Atlantic hurricane season expected to be stormier than normal
• Get the latest updates from the U.S. National Hurricane Center

Harvey's approach sent tens of thousands of residents fleeing inland, hoping to escape the wrath of a menacing storm that threatens not only the coast but a wide swath of Texas that is home to oil refineries, chemical plants and dangerously flood-prone Houston, the nation's fourth-largest city.

No deaths were immediately confirmed in the hours after Harvey's arrival, but officials noted emergency crews couldn't get out in many places due to high winds. Melissa Munguia, deputy emergency management co-ordinator in Nueces County, which includes Corpus Christi, said early Saturday that it could be hours before crews could fully assess the damage in coastal communities.

Fuelled by warm Gulf of Mexico waters, Harvey grew rapidly, accelerating from a Category 1 early Friday morning to a Category 4 by evening. Its transformation from an unnamed storm to a life-threatening behemoth took only 56 hours, an incredibly fast intensification.

Harvey came ashore as the fiercest hurricane to hit the U.S. in 13 years and the strongest to strike Texas since 1961's Hurricane Carla, the most powerful Texas hurricane on record. Based on the atmospheric pressure, Harvey ties for the 18th strongest hurricane to make landfall in the U.S. since 1851 and the ninth strongest in Texas.

Forecasters said early Saturday morning that Harvey is slowly moving inland over south Texas.

"Catastrophic flooding expected over the next few days due to heavy rainfall," the U.S. National Hurricane Center said in a statement. "

The storm is expected to weaken, forecasters said, with Harvey "likely to become a tropical storm later today."

But even if the storm weakens, serious risks remain.

In Corpus Christi, the major city closest to the storm's centre, 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.

Boats bobbed violently in the marina. It was too dark to tell whether any boats had broken their moorings.

Rain and storm surge were among the biggest worries for officials, and the hurricane centre said some areas of southern Texas have already had almost 25 centimetres of rain, with more expected.

Corpus Christi officials worked through the night to deal with the storm, warning the public of the possible risks, including storm surge, high winds and flooding.

More than 211,000 consumers were without power across the Gulf Coast, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas said early Saturday morning.

The majority of those affected are in Corpus Christi, where the storm had downed power lines.

On Friday, the police chief in the coastal city said staff are ready to respond but will have a reduced presence in areas experiencing high winds, where the situation could be unsafe for officers. The fire chief said they, too, were ready, though some equipment was pre-emptively moved out of a low-lying area.

Emergency personnel in the coastal community Aransas County said Friday that they are assessing damage reports from Hurricane Harvey as they are able.

Officials in Aransas Pass say the Harbor Master Building along its coast has been destroyed. The Aransas Pass Police Department posted a video on its Facebook page of the building folding up from the high-speed winds.
• Click here to see a Facebook video of wind battering the Aransas Pass harbour

Rockport Volunteer Fire Department spokeswoman Gillian Cox told the Corpus Christi Caller-Times that the roof of Rockport's high school has partially caved in. But Cox said social media posts indicating the school has "disappeared" are inaccurate.

Rockport City Manager Kevin Carruth told the newspaper that the courthouse in the city, which is about 48 kilometres northeast of Corpus Christi, also has sustained major damage. Carruth says that a cargo trailer is halfway in the building.

Before the storm arrived, home and business owners raced to nail plywood over windows and fill sandbags. Steady traffic filled the highways leaving Corpus Christi, but there were no apparent jams. In Houston, where mass evacuations can include changing major highways to a one-way vehicle flow, authorities left traffic patterns unchanged.

Just hours before the projected landfall, the governor and Houston leaders issued conflicting statements on evacuation.

After Gov. Greg Abbott urged more people to flee, Houston authorities told people to remain in their homes and recommended no widespread evacuations.

In a Friday press conference that addressed Houston officials' decision to not have a voluntary or mandatory evacuation, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said there might be a "greater danger" in having people who don't need to be evacuated on roads that could flood.

Harris County Judge Ed Emmett said that because the hurricane was not taking direct aim at Houston, the city's primary concern was heavy flooding.

"We are not having a hurricane," said Emmett, the top elected official for the county, which encompasses Houston. "We are having a rain event."</s>HOUSTON (AP) — Hurricane Harvey slammed into the Texas coast some 175 miles (280 kilometers) from Houston, but the nation’s fourth-largest city has never needed a direct strike from a catastrophic storm to flood.

Regularly inundated by floodwaters ever since its settlement in the mid-1800s, Houston looked on warily even before Harvey roared ashore. In Houston, the chronic deluges that have repeatedly swamped its neighborhoods are getting worse and more costly — not just for locals, but for federal taxpayers.

An Associated Press analysis of government data found last year that if the county that is home to Houston were a state, it would have ranked in the top five or six in every category of repeat flood losses. That’s defined as any property with two or more losses in a 10-year period each totaling at least $1,000.

Nationally, repeat federal flood relief payouts averaged about $3,000 per square mile (2.5 square kilometers). But in greater Houston, the payouts were nearly a whopping $500,000 per square mile (2.5 square kilometers).

Harvey, which blasted ashore as a major Category 4 hurricane before weakening to a tropical storm, has swamped roads and paralyzed neighborhoods throughout the city. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said more than 2,000 calls for help had been received by midday Sunday. Flooding was so bad that residents were being urged to seek refuge on their roofs.

The National Weather Service said Sunday that some parts of Houston may receive a Texas record of 50 inches (1,270 millimeters) of rain.

Here’s a look at some of the reasons Houston has been so susceptible to flooding:

Founded on the banks of the Buffalo Bayou, Houston barely rises above sea level. Making matters worse, its flat terrain and clay soil are prone to the flooding of a humid climate that produces extreme rainfall. At least three dozen major floods have been recorded since Houston’s founding, including one in April 2016 that claimed eight lives.

Floods prompted the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to build reservoirs in the 1940s in the western area of Harris County, which encompasses Houston. That addressed some problems, yet few notable flood-control efforts have been undertaken since, experts told the AP last year. Houston in recent decades has focused on improving drainage and building thousands of detention ponds, concrete-lined pools capturing stormwater and piping it out. But, residents say, some developers have skimped on the flood-prevention systems.

In the last quarter century, greater Houston has added a million people and its commercial development has cut in half the amount of wetlands per capita that could soak up stormwater runoff. Paved land generates five times more runoff, and those surfaces in Harris County increased by more than 25 percent during that same time, researchers have said. Houston is also the only major U.S. city without zoning, and critics say local leaders have been pro-developer.

As if Houston’s natural elements weren’t challenging enough, intense downpours, measuring at least 10 inches (250 millimeters), have doubled in frequency during the last three decades. Rising average temperatures have packed 7 percent more moisture into the atmosphere over Houston. Contributing to that is warmer water in the Gulf of Mexico.

Sign up for the AP’s weekly newsletter showcasing our best reporting from the Midwest and Texas at http://apne.ws/2u1RMfv.</s>Two and a half days after Hurricane Harvey made landfall and dropped more than two feet of rain, thousands of people in Houston and along the Gulf Coast have been displaced. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott activated the entire Texas National Guard.

FEMA Administrator Brock Long estimated Monday that 30,000 people may need shelter, and some 450,000 may qualify for federal flood victim assistance.

As Harvey continues to dump rain on the Gulf Coast and flood waters rise, many organizations are doing vital work to help save lives and give comfort.

Here's a list of some of the organizations that are undertaking this work and how you can contribute to them.

Of course, NPR isn't endorsing or vouching for any of these groups. It's a good idea to do a bit of research on any charity before you donate to it. One place to start is Charity Navigator.



Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner established a Harvey relief fund at The Greater Houston Community Foundation. The organization connects donors with a network of nonprofits and innovative solutions in the social sector.

GlobalGiving, which calls itself the largest global crowdfunding community, has a goal of raising $2 million for its Harvey relief fund. Funds will be used first for immediate needs of food, water and shelter, and then transition to long-term recovery efforts.

United Way of Greater Houston has launched a relief fund for storm-related needs and recovery. The organization says it already maintains a disaster relief fund, but it anticipates the needs of Harvey will far exceed those existing resources.

The Center for Disaster Philanthropy has also launched a Hurricane Harvey relief fund. The organization says its strategy emphasizes "investing well rather than investing quickly, addressing the greatest needs and gaps in funding that may be yet to emerge."

GoFundMe, the social fundraising site, has created a landing page that gathers the campaigns on its platform related to Harvey.

The Salvation Army says it is providing food and water to first responders and preparing for massive feeding efforts for residents.

Send Relief and Southern Baptist Disaster Relief says its teams began responding before Harvey made landfall and continues on-the-ground relief work.

Samaritan's Purse is accepting donations as well as volunteers for Harvey disaster relief for the coming months.



In addition to the American Red Cross, Carter BloodCare and the South Texas Blood & Tissue Center are local organizations accepting blood donations.



Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County coordinates the city's response to homelessness, serving as "a backbone organization" to groups that offer direct service. It has been providing updated information on shelters with available beds.

Airbnb has set up an urgent accommodations site, where people can open their homes to evacuees from the storm or find shelter themselves. Service fees are waived for those who check in by Sept. 1.



A number of food banks will be aiding the affected region. Consider donating money instead of food, as it allows a food bank to use your donation most efficiently.

Feeding Texas is a statewide nonprofit that works alongside state and federal relief efforts. The organization says it steps in during major disasters to "coordinate with the state and other providers so that relief reaches families quickly and the 'second disaster' of an unorganized response is avoided."

Here's its list of food banks in Texas likely affected by Harvey:

Portlight Strategies facilitates projects involving people with disabilities, including post-disaster relief work. The organization says its hotline for Inclusive Disaster Strategies has received urgent requests from people in need.



The Texas Diaper Bank, based in San Antonio, works to meet the basic needs of vulnerable babies, children with disabilities, and seniors. It focuses on providing partner agencies with diapers and goods.



The SPCA of Texas is organizing evacuations of pets in Texas (including 123 cats from a shelter in Corpus Christi), and offers resources on pet-friendly housing for evacuees.

Austin Pets Alive! says it has transported more than 235 animals to its shelter. The organization seeks donations, as well as people who can adopt animals. It says it has received so many donated supplies that it's running out of storage space, so financial donations are what it needs most.</s>Two and a half days after Hurricane Harvey made landfall and dropped more than two feet of rain, thousands of people in Houston and along the Gulf Coast have been displaced. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott activated the entire Texas National Guard.

FEMA Administrator Brock Long estimated Monday that 30,000 people may need shelter, and some 450,000 may qualify for federal flood victim assistance.

As Harvey continues to dump rain on the Gulf Coast and floodwaters rise, many organizations are doing vital work to help save lives and give comfort.

Here's a list of some of the organizations that are undertaking this work and how you can contribute to them.

Of course, NPR isn't endorsing or vouching for any of these groups. It's a good idea to do a bit of research on any charity before you donate to it. One place to start is Charity Navigator.



Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner established a Harvey relief fund at The Greater Houston Community Foundation. The organization connects donors with a network of nonprofits and innovative solutions in the social sector.

GlobalGiving, which calls itself the largest global crowdfunding community, has a goal of raising $2 million for its Harvey relief fund. Funds will be used first for immediate needs of food, water and shelter, and then transition to long-term recovery efforts.

United Way of Greater Houston has launched a relief fund for storm-related needs and recovery. The organization says it already maintains a disaster relief fund, but it anticipates the needs of Harvey will far exceed those existing resources.

The Center for Disaster Philanthropy has also launched a Hurricane Harvey relief fund. The organization says its strategy emphasizes "investing well rather than investing quickly, addressing the greatest needs and gaps in funding that may be yet to emerge."

GoFundMe, the social fundraising site, has created a landing page that gathers the campaigns on its platform related to Harvey.

The Salvation Army says it is providing food and water to first responders and preparing for massive feeding efforts for residents.

Send Relief and Southern Baptist Disaster Relief says its teams began responding before Harvey made landfall and continues on-the-ground relief work.

Samaritan's Purse is accepting donations as well as volunteers for Harvey disaster relief for the coming months.



In addition to the American Red Cross, Carter BloodCare and the South Texas Blood & Tissue Center are local organizations accepting blood donations.



Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County coordinates the city's response to homelessness, serving as "a backbone organization" to groups that offer direct service. It has been providing updated information on shelters with available beds.

Airbnb has set up an urgent accommodations site, where people can open their homes to evacuees from the storm or find shelter themselves. Service fees are waived for those who check in by Sept. 1.



A number of food banks will be aiding the affected region. Consider donating money instead of food, as it allows a food bank to use your donation most efficiently.

Feeding Texas is a statewide nonprofit that works alongside state and federal relief efforts. The organization says it steps in during major disasters to "coordinate with the state and other providers so that relief reaches families quickly and the 'second disaster' of an unorganized response is avoided."

Here's its list of food banks in Texas likely affected by Harvey:

Portlight Strategies facilitates projects involving people with disabilities, including post-disaster relief work. The organization says its hotline for Inclusive Disaster Strategies has received urgent requests from people in need.



The Texas Diaper Bank, based in San Antonio, works to meet the basic needs of vulnerable babies, children with disabilities, and seniors. It focuses on providing partner agencies with diapers and goods.



The SPCA of Texas is organizing evacuations of pets in Texas (including 123 cats from a shelter in Corpus Christi), and offers resources on pet-friendly housing for evacuees.

Austin Pets Alive! says it has transported more than 235 animals to its shelter. The organization seeks donations, as well as people who can adopt animals. It says it has received so many donated supplies that it's running out of storage space, so financial donations are what it needs most.</s>Houston, the nation's fourth-largest city, was still largely paralyzed on Monday, and there was no relief in sight from the storm named Harvey that spun into Texas as a Category 4 hurricane, then parked itself over the Gulf Coast.

As these before-and-after photos show, it will be some time before the area fully recovers.</s>The remnants of Hurricane Harvey sent devastating floods pouring into Houston on Sunday as rising water led thousands of people to seek higher ground and overwhelmed rescuers.

Helicopters, boats and high-water vehicles swarmed around inundated areas, pulling people from their homes or from the turbid water, which was high enough in some places to gush into second floors.

The flooding was so widespread that authorities had trouble pinpointing the worst areas.

They urged people to get on top of their homes to avoid becoming trapped in attics and to wave sheets or towels to draw attention to their location.

As the water rose, the National Weather Service offered another ominous forecast:

Before the storm passes, some parts of Houston and its suburbs could receive as much as 50 inches of rain. That would be the highest amount ever recorded in Texas.

Houston Police SWAT officer Daryl Hudeck carries Connie Pham and her 13-month-old son Aiden after rescuing them from their home surrounded in Houston today.

"The breadth and intensity of this rainfall is beyond anything experienced before," the National Weather Service said in a statement.

Average rainfall totals will end up around 40 inches for Houston, weather service meteorologist Patrick Burke said.

The director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Brock Long, said the government expected to conduct a "mass care mission" and predicted that the aftermath of the storm would require Fema's involvement for years.

"This disaster's going to be a landmark event," Mr Long said.

Rescuers had to give top priority to life-and-death situations, leaving many displaced families to fend for themselves. The city's main convention centre was quickly opened as a shelter.

Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez used Twitter to field calls for assistance. Among those seeking help was a woman who posted: "I have 2 children with me and the water is swallowing us up."

Some people used inflatable beach toys, rubber rafts and even air mattresses to get through the water to safety.

Others waded while carrying rubbish bags stuffed with their belongings and small animals in pet carriers.

Wilford Martinez, right, is rescued from his flooded car by Harris County Sheriff's Department Richard Wagner along Interstate 610 in floodwaters from Tropical Storm Harvey today.

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said authorities had received more than 2,000 calls for help, with more coming in.

He urged drivers to stay off flooded roads to avoid adding to the number of those stranded.

"I don't need to tell anyone this is a very, very serious and unprecedented storm," Mr Turner told a news conference.

"We have several hundred structural flooding reports. We expect that number to rise pretty dramatically."

The mayor defended his decision not to ask residents to evacuate before the heavy rain from Harvey swamped roads and neighbourhoods.

He said there was no way to know which areas were most vulnerable.

"If you think the situation right now is bad, and you give an order to evacuate, you are creating a nightmare," he said, citing the risks of sending the city's 2.3 million inhabitants onto the highways at the same time.

Rainfall of more than four inches per hour resulted in water levels higher than in any recent floods and higher than during Tropical Storm Allison in June 2001, said Jeff Linder of flood control district in Harris County, which includes Houston.

Evacuees wade down a flooded section of Interstate 610 as floodwaters from Tropical Storm Harvey rise.

The Coast Guard, which received more than 300 requests for help, deployed five helicopters and asked for additional aircraft from New Orleans.

Staff at a Houston television station broadcasting live coverage of the floods had to evacuate after water started to gush into the building.

The anchors and news operations at KHOU moved first to a second floor before finally abandoning the station.

President Donald Trump tweeted on Sunday morning that he would visit Texas "as soon as that trip can be made without causing disruption. The focus must be life and safety".

Police said a sinkhole has opened on a Texas road about 25 miles (40 kilometres) south west of Houston as Harvey dumps more rain on the region.

Rosenberg police tweeted a photo of the gaping hole that spread across more than half of a two-lane road - Farm-to-Market 762.

Water could be seen filling the sinkhole as pieces of road hung from the edge of the damaged roadway.</s>Tropical storm Harvey lashed Houston over the weekend, leading to heavy flooding across the city. Several people are reported to have died during the storm and subsequent flooding with many more people needing urgent care and shelter. Texas governor Greg Abbott said the response to the disaster was just beginning in the city</s>ROCKPORT, Texas — As Hurricane Harvey grew and menaced from the nearby Gulf, Barry Skipper knew he should probably leave. He had been through close calls before and knew he was vulnerable in this seaside community.

But he lacked the money to leave so he and his wife hunkered down in their apartment, covering themselves with a mattress in the shower as Harvey mauled their roof.

On Saturday, Skipper picked through the soggy remains inside his roofless and splintered apartment, wondering what to do next.

“We just didn’t have the funds,” said Skipper, 68, who is retired and on disability. “The ball started rolling and there was nothing really we could do.”

Harvey, the first major hurricane to hit the U.S. in 12 years, left a swath of people like Skipper in its wake: Those on fixed income, infirmed or elderly without the means to evacuate or the wherewithal to seek nearby shelter.

Harvey has been downgraded to a tropical storm but continues to dump torrential rains in the Houston area, flooding that city, and is expected to return to Rockport and the coast by Thursday.

What to do with the most vulnerable residents is one of the biggest challenges of any disaster — before and after a storm hits. Hurricane Katrina in 2005 displaced or killed scores of the poorest residents of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast.

In Texas, county and city officials urged residents to evacuate as Harvey intensified in the gulf to a Category 4 storm Friday and took aim at the Texas coast.

Officials couldn’t force residents to leave, even under mandatory evacuation orders, but the vast majority were motivated to get out, said Nueces County Judge Loyd Neal, whose area includes nearby Port Aransas and Corpus Christi, but not Rockport.

“We asked people to get out of harm’s way early on,” he said. “Thank goodness thousands did.”

More: Death toll rises as Harvey hammers Texas with catastrophic flooding

More: Here's how to help victims of Hurricane Harvey

Lois Riley, 61, said she watched with growing angst as Harvey intensified. She would have liked to have heeded the urging of local officials to leave Rockport but also lacked the money or place to go. “I’m on a fixed income and this is the end of the month,” she said.

When she called 211 to inquire about shelters, she was told repeatedly to call back, Riley said. So she and a friend sheltered in her two-bedroom home, huddling in her bedroom as Harvey’s winds punched holes in her roof, disintegrated the front porch and exploded a front window. Water poured in.

As Harvey tore apart homes, residents began retreating to the Live Oak Learning Center, an elementary school that had been converted into a makeshift shelter. Christina Tucker, 30, a Rockford waitress, checked into the shelter on Friday.

Not feeling anyone was in charge, she deputized a group of other able-bodied evacuees into volunteer squads and began delegating tasks, such as creating a sign-in sheet, assigning cots and organizing meals.

“We had individuals,” she said, “but no organization.”

Soon, some of Rockport’s sickest and elderly residents were streaming into the school. By Saturday afternoon, 129 people had checked into the shelter. One of them, Sharon Simmons, 53, arrived with her husband, Charles Simmons, 70, an amputee who needs regular dialysis. When the power went out Friday night, Sharon Simmons began panicking. “He has to have dialysis or he is going to die,” she said.

She said would have much preferred to have left Rockport as Harvey intensified but didn’t have the means to leave. Their house was pummeled by the storm, forcing them to the shelter. “My truck is smashed and my house is gone,” Sharon Simmons said. “What do I do now?”

By Saturday afternoon, teams from the Texas Department of Public Safety, Texas Medical Emergency Medical Task Force and other local and state agencies were arriving to deal with the evacuees. Many were being transferred to Austin on large tour buses.

Helping storm victims rebuild their lives will bring more challenges for lower income and elderly residents, who often lack the insurance or means to rebuild on their own. Faced with the first major natural disaster of his presidency, President Trump on Friday ordered a federal disaster declaration for six Texas counties, opening the door for federal aid.

Asked what he will do next, Skipper shrugged. Getting new clothes and a new home will take money he doesn’t have.

“FEMA will get here eventually, I suppose,” he said, referring to the federal disaster agency. “Until then, we’ll just wait.”</s>Hurricane Harvey made landfall near Rockport Friday evening as a catastrophic Category 4 storm with winds around 130 mph.

Harvey made its second landfall along the northeastern shore of Copano Bay, Texas just after midnight. As of 3 a.m., the National Hurricane Center says Harvey is a Category 2 Hurricane.

There have been reports of damage in the area, including the collapse of a building where several people were trapped.

Reporters in the Omni Hotel in nearby Corpus Christi reported they could feel the building swaying.

The impacts of a Category 4 hurricane (130-156 mph) can include: Catastrophic damage to homes and buildings; mobile homes are destroyed; most large trees are snapped or uprooted; some roads impassable; large areas without power and communication outages.

It's also shaping up as just about a worst-case scenario storm with possible flooding from two different directions.

Harvey is moving slowly and will be stuck over the Texas coast through the middle of next week, which means rainfall measured in feet, not inches.

"This is going to be a very major disaster," said Gov. Greg Abbott, who declared a State of Disaster for 30 counties and requested 700 National Guard members to be activated.

FEMA granted Governor Abbott's request for a Presidential Disaster Declaration Friday night as Harvey made landfall on the Texas coast.

We're already feeling the effects of Harvey in the Greater Houston Area with a flurry of tornado warnings. There are reports of damage in some areas, including Galveston and the Matagorda County town of Sargent. There have been no reports of injuries.

In Houston, we could see rainfall of 15 to 20 inches with isolated areas getting up to 30 inches of rainfall by next Wednesday.

"It's possible that some spots could get up to 30 inches of rain -- it won't be everywhere -- but it will be in spots and so those spots that get that much rain, clearly, they will have a very significant flood threat," said KHOU 11 Chief Meteorologist David Paul.

Except for our coastal communities, Harvey's winds and storm surge will not be an issue for Houston. The main concern inland will be rain. Houston is on the "dirty side" of the storm, which means Harvey's outer bands will bring heavy downpours and storms to southeast Texas while Corpus gets hit by the hurricane force winds.

Get an inside look at Harvey from the Hurricane Hunters

Tornado touches down in Matagorda County, curfew in place

LIST: Evacuation orders in some coastal cities due to Harvey

NICU babies flown out of storm zone to North Texas

There is also concern about the forecast track. Currently Harvey is forecast to slowly make its way north along the Texas coast and arrive in Houston as a tropical storm early next week. This means Houston could get even more heavy rain Tuesday into Wednesday, especially if Harvey continues to move slowly. A Flash Flood Watch is in effect.

As many as 1.25 million Texans could lose power from the storm, according to forecast models at Texas A&M University.

Several counties have already called for mandatory and voluntary evacuations. Locally, Galveston County Judge Mark Henry has issued a voluntary evacuation for residents on Bolivar Peninsula effective Friday, Aug. 25 at 8 a.m. This order includes the unincorporated areas of Port Bolivar, Crystal Beach, High Island and Gilchrist. Residents who rely on medical assistance or those who cannot go without power for an extended period of time are encouraged to leave.

The Brazoria County judge has issued a mandatory evacuation for coastal communities along the Gulf side of the Intracoastal canal. The evacuation is due to an expected 6-10 foot storm surge. There is a voluntary evacuation for low-lying coastal areas inland of the Intracoastal Waterway.

LIST: Tap here for the list of current evacuation orders

WHEN TO EVACUATE: Should I stay or should I go?

A Hurricane Warning is in effect for Matagorda and Jackson Counties.

A Hurricane Watch is in effect for Brazoria County.

A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for Brazoria County, Chambers, Fort Bend County, Galveston County, Harris County, Waller County, Wharton County.

A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for Austin County, Colorado County.

A Tornado Watch is in effect until 2 a.m. Saturday for Brazoria, Calhoun, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Jackson, Matagorda & Wharton counties.

A Flash Flood Warning is in effect until 6:30 a.m. for Austin, Brazoria, Colorado, Fort Bend, Jackson, Matagorda, Waller, Washington and Wharton counties.

A Flash Flood Watch is in effect until until 7 p.m. Tuesday for Austin, Brazoria, Chambers, Colorado, Fort Bend, Galveston, Grimes, Harris, Jackson, Liberty, Matagorda, Montgomery, Waller, Washington & Wharton counties.

A Flash Flood Watch is in effect until until 7 a.m. Sunday for Colorado, Jackson, Matagorda & Wharton counties.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has declared a State of Disaster for 30 counties in anticipation of Tropical Storm Harvey making landfall. County Judge Hebert declared a local state of disaster for Fort Bend County.

President Trump ordered federal aid Friday to supplement State and local recovery efforts in the areas affected by Hurricane Harvey.

The governor has also activated 700 members of the Texas Army and Air National Guards and Texas State Guard to areas impacted by Hurricane Harvey.</s>As the sun rose Saturday, Texans who rode out the most powerful hurricane to hit the United States in a decade ventured out to witness the full scale of damage as Hurricane Harvey lumbered on in what was “now turning into a deadly inland event.”

The storm, which blasted ashore as a Category 4 around 11 p.m. ET Friday, between Port Aransas and Port O’Connor, was a Category 1 by mid-morning Saturday, packing winds of 80 mph as it plodded northwest at 6 mph. Coastal cities remained in danger of a potentially deadly 13-foot storm surge, with places even far inland predicted to get as much as 40 inches of rain through Wednesday.

Harvey wielded the “highest potential to kill the most amount of people and cause the most amount of damage,” Brock Long, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, had warned.

— Harvey’s impact will be devastating and leave areas “uninhabitable for weeks or months,” forecasters said.

— Even though Harvey had made landfall and weakened, it was still a dangerous storm and “turning into a deadly inland event,” the FEMA chief tweeted.

— More than 213,000 customers were without power around 7:30 a.m. ET, on the Texas Gulf Coast, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas said, amid reports of downed power lines and trees.

— Almost 10 inches of rain was reported by 5 a.m. ET at a few locations in southeast Texas, the National Weather Service said.

— A tide gauge in Port Lavaca, Texas, reported storm surge of 6.4 feet, the hurricane center said.

— Structural and building problems were reported in Rockport, Aransas Pass, and Port Aransas, Texas, said Tom Beal, a meteorologist with National Weather Service office in Corpus Christi.

— President Donald Trump tweeted early Saturday that he’s “closely monitoring” Harvey from Camp David. Trump, who plans to visit the storm zone next week, has signed a disaster declaration for Texas.

— Rockport’s mayor had advised residents who refused to evacuate to write their names and Social Security numbers on their forearms to “help out first responders should they find a body.”

Firefighters in Rockport “hunkered down” in their station as the eye of the storm passed over the coastal city of about 9,000 residents.

Firefighters were anxious to get out and survey the damage, though they knew it could be hours before they’d be able to safely venture outdoors, Roy Laird, assistant chief with the Rockport Volunteer Fire Department, told CNN early Saturday.

“We had probably 140-mph winds earlier. It was howling,” Laird added.

For hours, Karl Hattman and his family listened to “what sounded like a freight train” roar outside their Rockport home. When the fury calmed, they headed out into the darkness to find many trees down, debris blocking their driveway and Hattman’s vehicle damaged by flying roof tiles.

“We are very concerned to see what (Harvey) has been done when it lights out in the morning,” Hattman said.

Joey Walker, 25, rode out the storm from a house on Galveston Island. The Galveston Island Beach Patrol employee posted video of near-white out conditions overlooking Stewart Beach.

As Harvey continues to douse Texas with heavy rain, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner urged drivers to stay off the roads.

“People need to know, this is not a one-, two-day event and done,” he said.

The storm is expected to stall and dump rain on South Texas and parts of Louisiana into the middle of next week, forecasters predicted.
The death toll from Hurricane Harvey in the American city of Houston, Texas, rises to three with several more days of heavy rain causing "catastrophic" floods to come.