Hurricane Harvey: Eight killed as storm hits Texas

August 27 2017

The mayor of Port Aransas, Texas on the coast has confirmed that at least eight people have died in Hurricane Harvey.

Mayor Charles Bujan has heard from local police that the Pioneer Trailer Park in the town experience a "100-percent loss". It is unclear as to whether all eight reported deaths are from the mobile home park or other parts of the city.

There have been prolonged mobile and phone signal outages in the area.

Search and rescue efforts are underway, but are hampered by large debris and continued winds and rain.

"We had to send heavy maintenance equipment in before the police to clear the highway," Mr Bujan told a local news station.

Residents of several coastal cities and seven counties had been strongly urged to evacuate inland, however at least 5,000 residents stayed in the area.

Mr Bujan also said: "No one should consider returning or visiting Port Aransas until further notice."

Earlier, the US Coast Guard had been dispatched to answer distress calls from tugboat near Port Aransas. Two helicopter crews were dispatched to the Corpus Christi area as well.

The Texas Military Department had deployed approximately 700 members of the State Guard and National Guard to the coastal region just ahead of the storm as well.

Harvey made landfall late on the night of 25 August as a Category 4 hurricane with winds up to 130 mph (209 kmh). The National Weather Service's National Hurricane Center said rainfall is expected to be around 15 to 30 inches (38 to 76 cm) but could reach up to 40 inches (102 cm) in some areas.

By mid-morning the hurricane had been downgraded to a Category 1, but rain and high winds continued to pummel the coast as the storm stalled over the area.

Despite the downgrade, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) chief Brock Long called it a "deadly inland event" as the storm progressed through the night.

The major damage to schools, public building, and several homes seems to be in and around Rockport, Texas, a community of about 10,000 people just northeast of Corpus Christi