Texas Hurricane Update: Category 3 Hurricane Harvey to Make Landfall Tonight
By now, you've heard that coastal cities in Texas and Louisiana are in for a wild week as Hurricane Harvey approaches land Friday night.
Luckily for us in East/Northeast Texas, we're probably just going to receive heavy rainfall, but our south Texas and Louisiana neighbors will likely experience strong winds, flooding and of course, hurricane forces. The National Weather Service said earlier this morning that the category 2 hurricane will likely be category three later today, which will result in 110+ mph winds. So if you have family or friends in areas with mandatory evacuations, please make sure they take heed or at the very least, are extremely prepared for flooding, power outages and more.
The Weather Channel has an amazing video describing the effects of each category of hurricane from 1-5. Check it out.
If you take a look at the NWS watches, warnings and advisories chart below, Tyler is right on the cusp of being part of the area requiring a Hazardous Weather Outlook from the NWS. Palestine, Athens, Canton and Emory are in that zone.
So while we'll just get wet up here in East Texas, it's important to keep our fellow Texans in mind this weekend and next week. They're going to need our help and there are already many people and organizations preparing for rescue and aid missions. In fact, Dallas is preparing local shelters to take in victims from hurricane victims in the south. KLTV also reported that First Responders from East Texas are mobilizing to help with hurricane evacuation efforts.
See Hurricane Harvey from space courtesy of NBC below: