Texas Governor Greg Abbott urged residents to evacuate on Friday as Hurricane Harvey, the most powerful storm to hit the U.S. mainland in more than a decade, barrels toward Texas. Colette Luke has more.
"This is going to be a very major disaster"
Texas Governor Greg Abbott sounding the alarm on Hurricane Harvey, urging residents to evacuate... as the most powerful storm to hit the U.S. mainland in more than a decade barrels toward Texas...
"While there still may be some time over the next few hours... if you are in areas between Corpus Christi and Houston and maybe even some other areas especially some low-laying areas, you need to strongly consider evacuating..."
Abbott said the hurricane is expected to come inland and then hover for days... dropping tremendous amounts of rain and causing record flooding in multiple locations...
"Put your life first and your property second.."
Forecasters say Harvey will make landfall near Corpus Christi around 8 or 9 p.m. local time Friday... and drop three feet of rain along the central Texas coast....
The Category 4 hurricane could bring winds between 110 to 130 miles per hour... potentially uprooting trees and ripping roofs off homes...
"It's future is in uncertain."
In Louisiana, New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu says Harvey is not expected to hit their state, but will cause heavy rainfall and flooding starting Sunday through the end of next week..
"We believe our drainage can handle this forecast..."
On Friday, President Trump tweeted: "I encourage everyone in the path of #HurricaneHarvey to heed the advice & orders of their local and state officials.."