| Lee Stewart |
08-26-2017 12:22 AM |
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (Reuters) - Hurricane Harvey moved closer to the Texas coast on Friday and residents were warned to take shelter from 125 mile-per-hour winds and 12-foot ocean surges when the most powerful storm in over a decade slams the mainland United States.
Harvey strengthened to a Category 4 hurricane, the National Hurricane Center said. The storm was expected to hit land near Corpus Christi, Texas, around 9 p.m. CDT (0200 GMT) then stall and dump over three feet of rain in areas of the Texas coast and parts of Louisiana as it lingers for days.
"We may be looking at unprecedented and major to record flooding," said forecaster John Tharp of Weather Decision Technologies, adding that flood warnings were in effect for Louisiana and northern Mexico.
As a Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale, Harvey could bring winds of up to 156 miles per hour (251 km per hour), uproot trees, rip roofs off homes and disrupt utilities for days. If it maintains its intensity, it would be the first major hurricane to hit the mainland United States since Hurricane Wilma struck Florida in 2005.
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