Deaths reported as Harvey strikes Texas coast

Rain from Harvey, which downgraded to a tropical storm a day after making landfall as a Category 4 hurricane late Friday, threatens to dump up the 8 inches of rain starting Sunday.

At least 10 injuries were reported from collapsed roofs in Rockport which is 25 miles northeast of Corpus Christi.

Harvey is forecast to stay at tropical storm strength over the same general area through Wednesday at least. Platforms and rigs were shut down in anticipation of the storm, which made landfall late Friday as a Category 4 storm but weakened mid-Saturday into a tropical storm.

Harvey’s approach sent tens of thousands of residents fleeing inland, hoping to escape the wrath of a menacing storm that threatens not only the coast but a wide swath of Texas that is home to oil refineries, chemical plants and dangerously flood-prone Houston, the nation’s fourth-largest city.

Rockport’s roads were a mess of toppled power poles.

Hurricane Harvey, the biggest storm to hit the USA mainland in 13 years, slammed into Texas spawning tornadoes, flooding, fires and widespread power outages across the state on Saturday.

He said Harvey had already caused severe flooding in the coastal city of Corpus Christi, with half-metre-high water, and caused isolated flooding of up to 40 cm in Houston.

“This is serious… It is important that people stay off the roads”, Turner said.

He said that the city is prepared for what he described as a “major water event”.

Some areas could get up to more than 100 centimetres of rain.

Heavy rains will continue through the weekend, include life-threatening flooding.

Governor Abbot said it was obvious Texas was confronting a “very major disaster”, and more than 1,000 National Guardsmen were to help with the disaster relief operation.

A dozen recreational vehicles were flipped over on a sales lot, one blown into the middle of the street.

Hurricanes that land in Texas tend to have little impact on oil production, but more significant consequences for refining, according to Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst at the Oil Price Information Service. The US Environmental Protection Agency waived certain fuel requirements for gasoline and diesel supplies in Texas, including the Dallas-Fort Worth area, to allay concerns of fuel shortages.

Utilities American Electric Power and CenterPoint Energy reported a combined total of more than 240,000 customers without power.

Rain fell on Houston at almost 8cm an hour, leaving some streets and underpasses under water. “We’ve made the long journey, now we’re ready to get out and do what we came to do, which is use our skills and expertise and make a difference”, he said. “New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu said in an update on Saturday the city’s contractors are working “around the clock” to fix all power and pumps”.