"Catastrophic" Hurricane Harvey to Hit Texas Hard

Stay dry and safe, Texans. And Louisianans too -- they'll also get a blast of it.

It's a category 2 storm now, and will probably hit category 3.

Update: It is now a Category 3 storm.

As "catastrophic" Hurricane Harvey churns toward Texas, bringing with it a "life-threatening storm surge," major cities have devolved into ghost towns while authorities use their last hours before landfall to warn of the chaos to come.

Flooding could reach heights of 6 to 12 feet above ground level along the Texas coast, according to the National Hurricane Center, and nearly three feet of rain could fall in some regions as Harvey potentially strengthens to a Category 3 storm when it makes landfall late Friday or early Saturday.

Forecasters say some areas will be so devastated that they'll remain uninhabitable for "weeks or months."

The hurricane is expected, alas, to "stall or meander for several days" after it makes landfall, sitting in one place and dropping flooding rains.

Update: Now it's spinning off tornadoes -- tornado warning issued for Galveston.

Video: It's a beast.

posted by Ace at 02:49 PM

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