The Slatest

Hurricane Harvey Downgraded to Tropical Storm as Flooding Fears Persist

Valerie Brown walks through a flooded area on August 26, 2017 in Rockport, Texas.  

Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Update at 2:20 p.m.: Harvey is no longer a hurricane. The National Hurricane Center downgraded Harvey from a Category 1 to a tropical storm. But the official designation has done nothing to temper fears of flash flooding as heavy rain is expected to continue for several days and more than 40 inches is expected in certain areas.

“Our focus is shifting to the extreme and potentially historic levels of flooding that we could see,” said Eric Blake, a specialist at the National Hurricane Center in Miami. The National Hurricane Center warned of “catastrophic flooding” over the next few days.

Harvey left “widespread devastation” in its path as fears continue that new tornadoes could be formed. Although no fatalities have been reported yet, attention is quickly centering around the city of Rockport, where an estimated 5,000 residents didn’t evacuate. “There’s been widespread devastation,” Rockport Mayor Charles Wax told CNN late Saturday morning. “We’ve already taken a severe blow from the storm, but we’re anticipating another one when the flooding comes.”

Several homes collapsed across the city and many buildings suffered structural damage. “If you have something left of your house, you’re lucky,” one resident told Reuters.

A destroyed building and vehicles at Rockport Airport on August 26, 2017.  

MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images

More than 300,000 people were left in the dark as strong winds downed power lines and in some cases made it impossible for repair crews to get to work. Gov. Greg Abbott warned those who refused to evacuate that they could be without power for days.

Harvey slammed into the Texas coast at around 10 p.m. on Friday as a Category 4 storm with winds of 130 mph. Around three hours later it was downgraded to a Category 3 and by 3 a.m. it had turned into a Category 2 storm. Two hours later Harvey was downgraded again to a Category 1.

Update at 11:15 a.m.: Hurricane Harvey continued weakening Saturday morning and was on the verge of becoming a tropical storm, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center. Harvey had maximum sustained speeds of 75 mph, which is the limit to consider it a hurricane.

But officials are cautioning that Texas Gulf Coast residents shouldn’t think the danger is over just because Harvey is weakening or has already passed through their towns. What they’ree most concerned about now is the flooding that could result from the rain that the storm will drop in the area over the next few days. “We don’t use terms like ‘catastrophic and life-threatening’ often,” the National Weather Service wrote on Twitter on Saturday morning. “Remember, this is a multi-day event…marathon not a sprint.”

No deaths have been reported yet although emergency crews still have not been able to make it to some of the worst-hit areas. In the small city of Rockport, for example, the fire department has not been able to answer as many as 30 pending calls because of the poor weather conditions. The mayor of Rockport said the city of around 10,000 people took a hit “right on the nose” that left “widespread devastation.” The city had ordered a mandatory evacuation and officials grimly told residents that if they chose not to evacuate they should write their name and Social Security number on their arm with a Sharpie.

Original post at 8:15 a.m.: Gulf Coast residents were hunkered down, waiting for news early Saturday after Hurricane Harvey slammed into Texas as the strongest hurricane to hit the United States since Charley in 2004. Hurricane Harvey made landfall northeast of Corpus Christi as a Category 4 storm with winds of up to 130 mph. By 10 p.m. Central time the center of the hurricane crossed the Texas shoreline about four miles east of the city of Rockport, according to the National Hurricane Center.

By 5 a.m. Central time, officials had downgraded Harvey to a Category 1 storm, with winds of up to 90 mph. Forecasters warned of heavy damage in the hours ahead as some areas of southeast Texas had already reported 16 inches of rain by 5 a.m. The National Weather Service warned some areas could get as much as 40 inches of rain over the next few days. At a news conference on Friday, Gov. Greg Abbott had warned the hurricane would be particularly dangerous due to the potential for flooding. Houston remains under a flash-flood watch until Tuesday evening.

The quick approach of what had been a mere tropical depression left officials scrambling as tens of thousands of coastal residents moved inland. Harvey marked the strongest hurricane to hit Texas since 1961’s Hurricane Carla. It is tied for the 18th strongest hurricane to hit the United States since 1851.

There were no reports of deaths in the hours after Harvey made landfall but officials still have not been able to assess damage in some of the worst-hit areas. There were early reports coming out of a few cities in Harvey’s path that mentioned lots of structural damage to buildings. The roof at a senior housing complex appears to have collapsed, for example, and several people may have been injured. There were also reports that the hurricane had spawned at least one tornado that ripped through Missouri City, causing damage to homes.

Abbott warned that people in the hurricane’s path needed to be ready to make it “a couple of days” without electricity of adequate food supplies. The storm could also cause lots of economic damage as it is striking a region that has lots of refineries that process five million barrels of oil per day.