Hurricane set to hit Texas coast
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Tropical storm Harvey intensified Thursday into a hurricane and forecasters said it would become a major hurricane and hit the middle Texas coastline.
Sustained winds reached 129 km/h more than a day before landfall was expected late Friday between Port O’Connor and Matagorda Bay, 48-km stretch of coastline about 110 km northeast of Corpus Christi.
Forecasters said a “life-threatening” storm surge along with rains and wind were likely as Harvey was intensifying faster than previously forecast. A major hurricane means winds greater than 177 km/h.
As of midday Thursday, Harvey was about 550 km southeast of Corpus Christi, moving to the northnorthwest at about 17 km/h.
Once Harvey makes landfall, it’s possible the storm then could just stall inland for as many as three days, exacerbating the threat of flooding brought by tropical downpours, the National Hurricane Center said. Some forecasts indicated rain totals over several days extending into next week could exceed 600 mm.
Harvey would be the first major hurricane to hit Texas since Ike in September, 2008, brought winds of 177 km/h to the Galveston and Houston areas and left damages of $22 billion.
Numerous cities were shipping in sandbags, extra water and other items ahead of the storm.
In Corpus Christi, dozens of people were waiting in line early Thursday at a local Sam’s Club. Down the coast in South Padre Island, Dave Evans took advantage of the free sandbags, noting he and his fiance live in an older house prone to flooding.
“The master bedroom floods every time the rain gets very strong. I think our home is below sea level,” Evans told The Brownsville Herald.
Alex Garcia, of Corpus Christi, was buying bottled water, bread and other basics in Sugar Land, a Houston suburb, after dropping his daughter off at college in Houston. He said grocery items likely were more available in Houston than back home, where Garcia, a beer distributor salesman, said stores were “crazy.”
“We’ll be selling lots of beer,” he laughed.
Nearly all of the state’s 591 km coast was under a hurricane or tropical storm warning or watch as of Thursday.