A graphic from windy.com, a website designed for sailors and boaters to plot weather conditions around the world.
6 p.m. Friday, August 25
Hurricane Harvey just became a Category 4 storm when its maximum winds reached 130 miles per hour. Say experts from the National Weather Service in Houston: “South Texas could become uninhabitable for months.” They are talking in terms of damage similar to that of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
“Texas is about to have a very significant disaster,” said Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Brock Long.
4 p.m. Friday, August 25
Hurricane Harvey gained Category 3 strength within the last hour, pushing wind gusts of up to 60 miles per hour into Corpus Christi ahead of its official landfall on the central Gulf Coast. The worst brunt of the storm, estimated at 110 to 120 mph winds, should hit Coastal Bend region sometime around 1 a.m. Saturday, August 26.
Corpus Christi Mayor Joe McComb and Nueces County Judge Loyd Neal both expressed confidence that the area is completely prepared for the onslaught of wind and water.
“The whole country is watching us,” McComb said at a noon news conference in city hall. “The spotlight is shining on the amount of preparation that has gone into an event such this. When it is all said and done, we may be the benchmark for emergency preparedness.”
A 24-hour call center at (361) 826-CITY (2489) went online earlier today, announced City Manage Margie Rose. Residents who did not evacuate are being asked to use the non-emergency number to report on city related issues during and after the hurricane.
“We encourage citizens to be the eyes and ears throughout the city during this storm,” she said. “Again, this is a non-emergency number. Citizens should let us know if there are concerns. You can help us with this process as the storm passes."
Judge Neal encouraged those sticking out the storm to be patient.
“One of the things you get when you get old is experience,” said the the judge, who was in Corpus Christi when Hurricane Celia hit in 1970, the last major storm along the Texas Coast. “And I know from experience that the greatest asset you can have for the next three or four days is patience.”
The electrical supplier for most of the region, AEP, told Neal that when the power goes off in the city it could take three to seven days to restore it in some places.
“Fry those wieners today and eat them for next three days,” Neal said. “It’s time for all of us to come together and take a deep breath and let them (AEP) do their job and we’ll get the city back together as soon as we can.”
Gov. Greg Abbott has ordered 700 Texas National Guard to staging areas outside the storm area to be prepared for when it passes. tTexas State Guard are already on site at shelters in Nueces County.
“This is serious,” Neal said. “Anybody who’s seen this storm out in the Gulf, you can tell it’s a big one. This is a big storm and we don’t want to have the kind of results like when the storm hit New Orleans.” (Neal was referring to Hurricane Katrina, a Category 5 that devastated New Orleans in 2005.)
Corpus Christi Business News will continue to report on Harvey's progress throughout the evening and weekend.
