FEMA Administrator on #HurricaneHarvey: “Texas is about to have a very significant disaster” https://t.co/CC3gXwn77o https://t.co/vfgrigJccu
— CNN (@CNN) August 25, 2017
Hurricane Harvey has strengthened during the overnight hours to a Category 2 storm, although it shall reach Category 3 status prior to reaching the mainland, just north of Corpus Christi, with “astounding” strength and wind speeds in excess of 111 mph. Harvey will make landfall late Friday evening, and evacuees are currently flooding Texas highways to leave a vastly more dangerous flooding scenario behind. As the above CNN video indicates, some areas of Texas will see a “yard of rain,” which is nearly the case, for 35 inches could materialize over the next few days.
Also in the above clip — and contrary to what Twitter appears to believe — there is indeed a current head of FEMA. Trump’s nominee, Brock Long, was confirmed in June, and this storm shall (obviously) prove to be his first crisis test. Long warns that the damage wrought by Harvey will be significant, and he is troubled over those who won’t evacuate: “I’m afraid that people may not be taking this storm seriously.”
Harvey will park itself over southern Texas for days. Hospitals and military bases in the affected areas have already evacuated, and this CBS News video shows wind and rising tide in Houston on Friday morning. The report indicates that Harvey could flood areas 100 miles from the coast, and Houston’s infrastructure is not equipped to withstand such a disaster.
Indeed, Weather.com warns that Harvey could render many coastal areas “uninhabitable for an extended period of time.” CNN adds that this period could be weeks or months, depending on the severity of the devastation. This will be the first hurricane to strike Texas in nearly a decade and the first Category 3 (“major”) hurricane to strike the U.S. mainland in 12 years. Further east, Louisiana sits in the path of heavy rain that will continue through midweek. New Orleans officials are currently “scrambling” to repair a damaged pump system in order to mitigate impending damage.
(Via Weather.com, CBS News, ABC News & CNN)