Harvey has been upgraded to Category 4. The last Cat 4 hurricane to hit the Texas coast was Carla in 1961.
This is going to be bad folks. If you can still get out then that’s what you should do.
I grew up on the coast in Brazoria County and while we rode out quite a few storms this is one I know I would not stick around for if I was still down there. My guess would be you should be prepared for 3 - 5 days without electricity in most of the area from Corpus to Galveston. I doubt most people are ready for that.
Central Texas checking in. Our forecasters cannot say with any precision what we will get from Harvey. Tomorrow and Sunday’s weather is predicted to be 1 to 15 inches of rain, high wind gusts, and possible tornadoes. We have enough water and food for the humans and kitties to get through about 4 days. More for the kitties, because they’re spoiled little bastards. Worst case scenario will have us checking into a hotel for a couple of days if there is a power outage, and if there are any available rooms.
We may have to live like pioneers for a few hours, but we are nowhere near in the amount of trouble as the coast. Thoughts and best wishes are heading their way.
As of 9 PM CDT Friday, the rain bands have mostly missed the northern Houston suburbs. Looks like most of the action here will take place tomorrow morning onward.
I certainly wouldn’t want to be in the swathe between Freeport and Corpus, and inland to Victoria; I expect daylight is going to show massive destruction.
Rockport appears to be getting really hammered right now. The weather people were saying it looks like this thing is likely to move inland and stall over Victoria. There is likely to be serious damage and flooding. Some areas are certain to lose power for days. This will be ugly for sure.
I’m riding it out at home here on the south side of Corpus Christi. Electricity is out but cell service is still working. We have some strong winds right now, but so far the rain has been a lot less than advertised (at least in my area).
The governor asked that people who were asked to evacuate and don’t should write their SS nos. on their arms to make their bodies easier to identify. They are predicting 40-50 inches of rain between now and Tuesday.
It’s nice and just somewhat cloudy here inside the loop of Houston. I walked over to White Oak Bayou which is near me, and it’s full, but not nearly as bad as the Tax Day flood last year.
What I’m concerned about is the rain coming in the next few days, and people in Houston and other close areas being too casual about things since it has been too bad here yet.
That wasn’t the governor; it was the mayor of either Port Aransas or Rockport. The governor told the people of Houston to evacuate and promptly got shouted down. They tried to evacuate Houston when the first big post-Katrina storm hit and it was a nightmare. He later changed that to"listen to your local officials". Houston covers a helluva lot of territory and most people are safe where they are.
Austin’s getting a lot of wind and rain. Right now, it just means most people are staying indoors. With for more days of this, we might have a run of gopher wood at Lowe’s.
My roommate and I loaded up on food, beer :D, and water the other day. Right now we’re just hanging out and enjoying Netflix. They are projecting a LOT of rain for Austin, so I am not sure how the next few days will go. We have a creek behind the house that is normally a trickle and right now it is pretty high and moving nicely. Fortunately for us the creek is way downhill, but we are definitely keeping an eye on it.
The pups are less than thrilled right now though. Ever since the wind started to pick up they have basically been on top of us, but we’re fine with that. I hope everyone else is staying safe!
I don’t think it is accurate to say most people in Houston are safe where they are. Houston is notorious for flooding and the water is what is the danger now. The storm has weakened so the winds aren’t going to do the damage seen in Rockport but flash floods are a serious concern. Anywhere from 20 - 35" of rain in the next few days will cause major problems.
Lots of rain here in Austin, but relatively little wind. My patio door has been wide open for most of the afternoon/night and there’s hardly been any wetness getting in the room despite the rain.
