Harvey a Category 2 hurricane approaching Texas

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Computer models continue to struggle as far as forecasting Harvey, a category two hurricane with a projected landfall near Corpus Christi on Friday evening. A stationary front will act as a blocker and the storm is expected to bounce around it for a couple of days. The latest forecast has Harvey moving back into the Gulf of Mexico and be a tropical storm over Galveston on Tuesday, which would be problematic for southeast Texas.

Storm surge and hurricane warnings are in effect for Jackson and Matagorda counties.

Storm surge and tropical storm warnings are in effect for Brazoria and Galveston counties.

Tropical storm and storm surge watches are in effect for Chambers and Harris counties.

A tropical storm warning is in effect for the following southeast Texas counties:

  • Austin
  • Colorado
  • Fort Bend
  • Liberty
  • Waller
  • Wharton

Harvey is slated to bring an extremely dangerous mix of rainfall and storm surge flooding to areas near the Texas and Louisiana coasts into the weekend or early next week. 

A flash flood watch is in effect from 4 a.m. Friday until 7 a.m. Monday for the following southeast Texas counties:

  • Austin
  • Brazoria
  • Brazos
  • Burleson
  • Chambers
  • Fort Bend
  • Galveston
  • Grimes
  • Harris
  • Liberty
  • Montgomery
  • Waller
  • Washington

School closings list

Mandatory and voluntary evacuations

Hurricane Toolbox with Quicklist and resources

Yesterday the Harris County Emergency Operations Center prompted to a Level III activation, which is just one step above normal at this point. The Flood Control District is making sure its more than 150 gauges are properly working. The major concern with this storm is flooding.

More than 1.5 million people have moved to the Houston area since Ike so officials feel they need to educate the newcomers about how dangerous the flooding can be. Harris County officials also want people who've lived here for a long time to not be complacent and to understand--the biggest threat with this storm isn't wind damage like we typically think of for hurricanes and tropical storms, but the potential for widespread flooding.

HURRICANE REMINDER 

Please do the following to keep your family safe:

  1. Make sure you have food and water for your family for the next 4 days on-hand.
  2. Fuel up now. Have a full tank of gas for your car.
  3. Make sure you have cash on-hand.
  4. Protect and keep all forms of ID, insurance forms in waterproof containers.
  5. Gather chargers, flashlights, and batteries in advance of the storm.