Hurricane Harvey Leaves More Than 300,000 Without Power Amid ‘Life-Threatening’ Conditions

Hurricane Harvey made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane late Friday night, earlier than had been expected, and is continuing to cause severe damage and disruption that may not let up for days.

Electric Reliability Council of Texas reported that more than 300,000 customers are without power as of Saturday evening.

Rockport, Aransas Pass and Port Aransas all had buildings with structural damage, according to CNN.

Wind gusts peaked in Port Aransas at 132 mph and in Copano Village at 125 mph, according to the NCEP.

KHOU reported that walls and roofs collapsed at several buildings in Rockport, including at Rockport High School. At least 10 people were injured in the area, according to the network.

Meanwhile, Corpus Christi saw downed trees and power lines, and some structural damage to buildings has been reported. Emergency personnel northeast of Corpus Christi have reported issues with cellphone service, the Associated Press reported.

Harvey has already dropped about 18 inches of rainfall as of Saturday morning, and forecasters are predicting “catastrophic flooding,” according to the AP.

While Harvey was downgraded from a Category 4 hurricane to a tropical depression and later a tropical wave, forecasters are still warning of hazardous conditions.

Harvey’s winds have weakened, but heavy rainfall and storm surge is still causing life-threatening hazards over southeastern Texas, according to the National Hurricane Center, which added that the storm surge flooding would be slow to recede.

A Look at the Devastating Destruction Caused by Hurricane Harvey