Hurricane Harvey Makes Landfall Near Corpus Christi Causing Significant Damage and Hazardous Travel Conditions

Now downgraded to Category 1, Hurricane Harvey made landfall as a Category 4 storm Friday at 9:45 p.m. local time, much earlier than expected. With winds as high as 130 mph (209 km/h), the eye of the storm came ashore northeast of Corpus Christi, Texas.

As of 10 a.m. Central Time, hundreds of flights have been delayed and cancelled, with the majority concentrated in South Texas. George Bush Intercontinental and William P. Hobby airports in Houston have seen the highest number of delays and cancellations, with over 1,000 in aggregate.

Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and American Airlines have posted hundreds of cancellations throughout their systems and are offering travel waivers for customers scheduled to fly to, from or through Houston and several other Texas cities from Friday through Sunday.

Within hours of its arrival, officials were reporting significant damage to trees and buildings in Port Aransas and Rockport, both near Corpus Christi. Two people were reported trapped in collapsed buildings. As of early Saturday morning, over 250,000 customers were without power statewide and that number is expected to climb throughout the day.

Because the storm is moving slowly, officials said they expect far more damage than if it had hit land at a higher speed.

“Due to the slow motion of Harvey and a prolonged period of onshore flowwater levels will remain elevated for several days,” the hurricane center said in a statement.

Meteorologists expect the storm to maintain tropical storm strength in the coming days, with continued heavy rain and flooding.

“Even though #Harvey has made landfall, the rainfall threat is only beginning,” said the National Hurricane Center in a Twitter message.

(Photo: Accura Media Group)