Thousands of people have been evacuated amid warnings Hurricane Harvey, the most powerful weather system to hit the US in almost 12 years, will hit the USA tomorrow.
Texas governor Greg Abbott has activated 700 members of the state National Guard and put military helicopters on standby in preparation for search and rescues and emergency evacuations.
The head of the National Weather Service said the storm posed “a grave risk to the folks in Texas”.
LATEST HURRICANE HARVEY PATH UPDATES
While the NOAA’s National Weather Service also warned conditions will only get worse, possibly peaking at 1pm, as it warned Texas citizens to be ready by morning.
A statement said: “Now is the time to urgently hide from the wind. Failure to adequately shelter may result in serious injury, loss of life, or immense human suffering. Remain heltered until the hazardous wind subsides.
“Be ready to quickly move to the safest place within your shelter if extreme wind warnings are issued.”
The NOAA also described the potential impact of the storm as: “Devastating to Catastrophic”.
And they told officials and citizens to “aggressively prepare” before the storm hits – saying: “Evacuation efforts should now be brought to completion. Evacuations must be complete before driving conditions become unsafe.”
Harvey grew into a category 2 storm with winds of 105 mph as it moved northwest of Port O’Connor, Texas, and is expected to come ashore as a Category 3 – the third most powerful on the Saffir-Simpson scale.
Up to 35 inches of rain are expected over parts of Texas, with winds up to 125 mph, and sea levels may surge as high as 12 feet (3.7 meters). Louisiana could get 10 to 15 inches of rain. Flood warnings are in effect for Louisiana and northern Mexico.
The hurricane centre said: “Life-threatening and devastating flooding expected near the coast due to heavy rainfall and storm surge.”
At least 40 flights in and out of major airports in Texas on Friday have been cancelled, according to Flightaware.com.
A number of oil refineries are expected to shut down including three refineries in Corpus Christi and one farther inland at Three Rivers.
Both Louisiana and Texas have declared states of disaster, mean they are now authorised to use state resources to prepare for the storm.
President Donald Trump has been briefed and is ready to provide resources if needed, the White House said on Thursday.
A statement from the NOAA said: “Harvey is expected to continue to strengthen into a hurricane on Friday before landfall.
“The primary impact from Harvey remains heavy rainfall and subsequent flooding for southeast Texas, but there is also the threat for tropical storm to hurricane force winds and storm surge along the coast.
“The most likely arrival time for tropical storm force winds to reach the upper Texas coast is during the day on Friday.”
Harvey will be the first hurricane to strike Texas since 2008, when Hurricane Ike killed 21 people in Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas.
Currently a Hurricane Warning stretches from Port Mansfield to Sargent, while a storm Surge Warning is in also effect for areas between Port Mansfield and High Island.