Hurricane Harvey downgraded to Category 1 while still dumping significant amounts of rain.

Houston Chronicle:
Hurricane Harvey barreled into the Texas coast around 10 p..m. Friday as one of the most powerful hurricanes to strike the Texas coast in decades.

The storm has now weakened to a Category 1 storm with 90 mph winds and is expected to continue to weaken, becoming a tropical storm later on Saturday.

Here is the latest on forecasts, evacuations, closures, damage, flooding and more as the storm nears the Texas coast.
...
Across the Rockport area, there were reports of damaged buildings, including a high school. People were believed to be trapped in multiple buildings and some structures collapsed with people inside, according to preliminary reports.

A part of the high school's roof is reportedly caved in, Rockport's volunteer fire department told the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. The department will not assess damage until rescues are completed, which would be when wind speeds have diminished below 45 mph, the newspaper reported.
...
Catastrophic flooding is expected over the next few days due to the heavy rainfall, the National Hurricane Center said.

Harvey's winds have decreased to nearly 90 mph and the hurricane will continue to weaken and is likely to become a tropical storm later Saturday.

It was located about 30 miles southwest of Victoria and moving northwest at 6 mph.

The hurricane is expected to move slowly over south and southeast Texas for the next couple of days drenching parts of the middle and upper Texas coast through Wednesday. Forecasters predict as much as 40 inches of rain in some areas.

The previously strongest hurricane to hit Texas was Hurricane Carla in 1961. It killed 34 and injured 465 when it made landfall near Port Lavaca.

Harvey had maximum sustained winds near 130 mph with higher gusts and storm surges will be dangerous. Tornadoes are possible near the middle and upper Texas coast.
...
There is more.

There has not been a lot of wind in Washington County which is northwest of Houston, but the rain has been increasingly heavy for hours.  The rain is expected to persist for days.  A flood watch is in effect and I expect there some creeks will be over their banks.

The weather service says catastrophic flooding could effect much of the region.  The high tides caused by teh hurricane may make it difficult for the drainage system to get teh excess water to the Gulf of Mexico.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Should Republicans go ahead and add Supreme Court Justices to head off Democrats

29 % of companies say they are unlikely to keep insurance after Obamacare

Bin Laden's concern about Zarqawi's remains