Hurricane Harvey Slams Into Texas Coastline

Hurricane Harvey slammed into the Texas coast late Friday, unleashing torrents of rain and packing powerful winds, the first major storm to hit the US mainland in 12 years.

The storm roared ashore at the town of Rockport near Corpus Christi, a major US oil industry hub ,packing sustained winds of 130 miles per hour (215 kilometers per hour), a Category Four hurricane on the five-level storm scale.

A few hours later the storm made a second landfall just north of Rockport as a Category Three hurricane, with winds of 125 mph, the National Hurricane Center said.

Harvey lost strength as it moved inland over south Texas and dropped to a still-dangerous Category Two storm, with winds of 100 mph, and then to a Category One with winds of 90 mph, the NHC said at 1000 GMT.

President Donald Trump granted Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s request to declare a “major disaster” zone in the state to speed federal aid to the millions in harm’s way. Abbot in turn activated more than 1,000 National Guardsmen to help with evacuation and recovery.

The NHC warned of likely “catastrophic and life-threatening flooding” due to the massive rainfall forecast and the huge storm surge, which could reach 13 feet (nearly four meters) in some places.

“Harvey is expected to slow down through the day and meander over southeastern Texas through the middle of next week,” the NHC said.

AFP