As a native Texan having lived in Houston for the majority of my life (42 years) before moving to Florida my heart is breaking for the people who live within 150 mile radius of the city. It will devastate the area and many will perish. I have lived through many canes and tropical storms, trust me this one has the capacity to be one of the worst.
I remember vividly Hurricane "Alicia" when it traveled directly through down town Houston blowing out the windows of the skyscrapers glass littering the roads and Tropical Storm "Allison" dumping 21 inches of rain in 24 hours. Ike destroyed the Bolivar peninsula in Galveston leaving only a lone home standing. Those were bad enough and people died, but Harvey is frightening!
Downtown Houston
Houston is huge covering over 650 square miles in area, it's the 4th the largest city in the US and possibly the 3rd at this time. Interstate 10 is 26 lanes wide as it cuts through the city from Katy to Loop 610. Mark my words Hwy 59, Loop 610, the Beltway 6, and I 10 will be underwater in many places. Downtown, the Medical Center, Bellaire, and mid-town will also be underwater. Power will go out for possibly millions of people in a large radius. The numerous bayous that flow through the city will backup, overflow from the rain and storm surge. They won't be able to drain into the Gulf of Mexico for days.
I still have many friends in the area (Houston & Galveston) and family in San Antonio who will feel the impacts and I am worried for them. If you are a praying person, start now and donate to organizations who will arrive on the scene after the storm passes. This is a potential catastrophe if Harvey doesn't change course very soon!
The Medical Center (not even near Downton)
I will post updates as I hear form friends and family in Houston and surrounding areas
Update #1
Spoke to friends in Galveston, Houston and my cousin in San Antonio last night, they were hunkered down and riding it out. The biggest fear is the catastrophic rainfall that's expected thru Wednesday. Everyone is quite worried about the flooding!
Rainfall so far, through 6 a.m. CDT Saturday 8/26/17
11.75 inches near San Antonio River
11.36 inches near Austwell
10.54 inches in Aransas
9.02 inches in Edna
8.61 inches near Bay City
8.42 inches near Eagle Lake
8.36 inches in East Bernard
8.12 inches in Greatwood
7.12 inche Brazoria County Airport
5.66 inches near Victoria
5.39 inches at Houston Southwest Airport
3.02 inches in Galveston
2.89 inches near Corpus Christi
Update at 4:00 am CDT from the National Hurricane Center 08/26/17
Harvey is moving farther inland over southeastern Texas and
continues to bring life-threatening storm surge, rainfall, and wind
hazards to portions of the Texas coast.
A Storm Surge Warning is in effect for much of the Texas coast.
Life-threatening storm surge flooding could still reach heights of 6
to 12 feet above ground level at the coast between Port Aransas and
Port O'Connor. For a depiction of areas at risk, see the Storm
Surge Watch/Warning Graphic at hurricanes.gov. Due to the slow
motion of Harvey and a prolonged period of onshore flow, water
levels will remain elevated for several days.
Catastrophic and life-threatening flooding is expected across the
middle and upper Texas coast from heavy rainfall of 15 to 30 inches,
with isolated amounts as high as 40 inches, through Wednesday.
Please refer to products from your local National Weather Service
office and the NOAA Weather Prediction Center for more information
on the flooding hazard.
From http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/
Update #2
I don't know what to say, it's really bad-worse then can be imagined. Stunned..Houston is basically under water, all escape routes cut off! Houston and surrounding areas "Katrina" possibly worse!
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
CIVIL EMERGENCY MESSAGE
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT IN CITY OF HOUSTON... GALVESTON COUNTY...
AND BRAZORIA COUNTY
RELAYED BY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
610 AM CDT SUN AUG 27 2017
THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE IS TRANSMITTED AT THE REQUEST OF THE
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT IN THE CITY OF HOUSTON... GALVESTON
COUNTY... AND BRAZORIA COUNTY.
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS HAVE REQUESTED THAT PEOPLE ESCAPING
FLOOD WATERS AS A LAST RESORT DO NOT STAY IN THE ATTIC. IF HIGHEST
FLOOR OF YOUR HOME BECOMES DANGEROUS...GET ON THE ROOF. CALL 911
FOR HELP AND STAY ON THE LINE UNTIL ANSWERED.