Texas Braces For Life-Threatening Winds, Floods; Storm Strengthens, Churns Toward Texas Coast; FEMA Delivers Relief Supplies To Path Of Storm
CLARISSA WARD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello. I'm Clarissa Ward in for Kate Bolduan. Hurricane Harvey, teetering on the verge of a Category 3 storm and growing stronger by the minute. It will likely be the strongest hurricane to slam into the U.S. in a dozen years and it is now just hours from landfall. The outer bands of the massive storm are already chewing into the Texas coast. Some 17 million people are now under hurricane or tropical storm warnings. Weather experts say this storm poses three lethal threats. A 12-foot storm surge, that's right, 12-foot, winds greater than 110 miles per hour and a boggling amount of rain, up to 35 inches in some areas. The storm stalls and triggers catastrophic flooding. A number of coastal counties and cities are now under evacuation orders. Emergency officials saying, with landfall expected late tonight or early tomorrow, the time to flee is quickly running out. The national hurricane center just released this update. CNN meteorologist, Tom Sater is in the weather center with the details. Tom, what are you learning?</s>TOM SATER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Clarissa, the latest advisory from the National Hurricane Center keeps the winds exactly where they were in the last advisory. Teetering on the brink of a Category 3, only needing 1-mile-per-hour to get to that status. However, the pressure has dropped, many times we see it takes a while for the winds to catch up to that pressure drop. But with the pressure dropping, it's still growing. So, there is no doubt in my mind, we are going to have a Category 3 if not a strong Category 3 at landfall. Now I know has been wondering are we hyping this? I mean, we are using words like catastrophic and devastation. We are using phrases like -- the likes we have never seen. I know everyone wants to know how strong will it be when it makes landfall and where. The problem is what happens after landfall. This is something of the likes we have never seen. All the computer models have been in agreement. This is what we want to see. We want to see a fairly decent gathering of these models so authorities know where to evacuate, gives us confidence in the forecast. But we noticed a few days ago, and the concern was, we are losing all dominant steering currents. We want to get the system in and get it out. Watch what happens to all the models. It's a bird's nest. There's a little difference in today's bird nest than yesterday's bird nest and that is more the models want to make landfall and bring it back offshore where it will intensify or at least keep its intensity and act like a siphon and pick up walls of water and deposit it on all the communities. Many times what we see is a little bit more of a duration in some of the latter part, we go into the day, and as the days rolled on, we'll see a little bit more significant trailing. We are starting to see the models move up to the north toward Galveston. So, what we have seen in the last 24 hours quickly for you, is a larger area of white in here. So, again, we are still looking ten plus inches from Austin, San Antonio. But in white, that's 20, 25, 30 inches. Could we see isolated 35? Yes. The models are in pretty good agreement here, but the heavier monsoon rain, Clarissa, stay more toward the coastline. He is my problem, though, and I think is a big, big concern. Houston floods with two or three inches across a great part of the city. We are looking at 20 inches in the next five days. This is catastrophic. It is OK. We are not over hyping this. This is going to be a disaster for many, thousands and thousands of people.</s>WARD: All right. Catastrophic, indeed. All right. Thank you so much, CNN meteorologist, Tom Sater. Even before the sun came up, the rain started coming down in Galveston. Tropical storm warnings blanket the barrier island and voluntary evacuations are in place in parts of the city. CNN's Ed Lavandera is there with the latest. Ed, what are you seeing? How are people managing to get out? Is anyone staying behind?</s>ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, here in Galveston, you can look here, this is the main road that goes along the beach front here. Traffic has been steady throughout the morning here. You can see people are doing their last-minute preparations to get ready for this hurricane. Here in Galveston, we are probably going to be on the eastern edge of this storm. We are looking back to the Gulf of Mexico there. This is looking toward the hurricane there. You can see how high the surf has gotten. The tide is pretty low at this point, but we are standing on top of the seawall that will protect much of the city that gives ten feet or so. The storm surge could be quite high. On the far west end of the island, there is a voluntary evacuation order in place. That's more residential. It doesn't have the seawall. Those folks are being urged to consider evacuating that area. But as we mentioned, it is here where emergency officials in counties around Galveston are really preparing. It doesn't really matter how far inland you go. You go about 30, 40 miles north of here into Houston. These are cities and areas that even in tropical storms, not hurricane strength storms, see a great deal of hazardous flooding. So, that flooding concern is one of the main issues that emergency officials here will be dealing with and that they are trying to get people aware of here in the coming days. As we mentioned, this storm expected to stall out over the region here in Southeast Texas. That, historically, many people around here have seen this over and over again. It doesn't take much of a storm to cause devastating flooding. Given the size and amount of rain expected to fall, I hear 25 inches, maybe as many as three feet in some isolated areas, that can cause a great deal of problems, potentially deadly problems. That is a great deal of concern here from Corpus Christi all the way to Galveston, Texas -- Clarissa.</s>WARD: It's 25 inches, just extraordinary. OK. Ed Lavandera, thank you so much. Within the hour, emergency officials may tell people that if they have not already evacuated, it's too late. Their focus will have to be finding the safest possible shelter. Federal emergency workers have begun off-loading supplies in the path of the storm. Bottled water and generators will be available in the immediate aftermath of the hurricane. Congressman Blake Farenthold represents much of the area now facing the greatest threat. His district stretches along the Texas coast from south of Corpus Christie northward almost to Houston. Congressman, thank you so much for being with us. I know how busy today must be. Please give us a sense of how you are preparing?</s>REPRESENTATIVE BLAKE FARENTHOLD (R), TEXAS: Well, everybody throughout the area who is planning on staying has been in the grocery store stocking up on emergency supplies. Water, in particular, has been difficult to find as are "d" cell batteries. Many people are taken care of, houses boarded up. Those who can leave have left and those of us that are here are here.</s>WARD: What do you say to your constituents who haven't left? At this stage, are you still urging people to leave or do you think that people who haven't left stay put and focus on just safe shelter?</s>FARENTHOLD: There's not a lot of time left. You probably do have about an hour or so to get out. The winds and rain are already starting to pick up. I'm happy I got my house boarded up yesterday. The winds are getting too high to move those big boards around to board your house. So, the trick is to get prepared and prepared early.</s>WARD: And of course, we are hearing there's three big factors with Harvey. There's storm surge. There's these winds and there's the risk of flooding. Is there something specifically that impacts your area or that you are most concerned about?</s>FARENTHOLD: Well, I live in Corpus Christi, which is the southern part of the strike area in the distance. But what's got me concerned overall are some of the forecasts that it may move ashore and stall for several days, which means folks are going to have to make do with the supplies they have on hand. FEMA has staged tens of thousands of meals -- hundreds of thousands of meals and water up in the Sageen (ph) area, which is about a three- hour drive from here. They are not going to be able to bring it into the affected area until conditions clear. So, the stalling of the storm and several days of wind and rain really could be a problem for emergency responders and folks who stayed in the area.</s>WARD: So are FEMA -- are you working closely with FEMA? Are they giving you the resources that you need where you are in the Corpus Christi area?</s>FARENTHOLD: Well, we've learned a lot of lessons in the federal government from Katrina and some of the storms since. You never can predict everything that's going to happen. Again, the stalling of the storm is a first-time event. So, FEMA is not going to be able to get in to do disaster relief until the worst of it is over. The preparations too late to do much prep now. We have to ride it out and hope FEMA can get in as soon as possible or actually, we should probably be hoping that we don't need FEMA at all. But unfortunately, with the strength of the winds and the amount of water, it looks like we are going to need some disaster relief down here.</s>WARD: And I guess, the last time Texas really saw a major hurricane make landfall was back in 2008 with Hurricane Ike. Do you think the Texans, some of them, have forgotten just how serious a storm of this magnitude can be?</s>FARENTHOLD: I think the folks who lived here and grew up here know about it. There have been stories through families. My concern is the folks, who have come to Texas in the past ten years. It's one of the fastest growing states in the country with people leaving California coming to Texas for the business climate. My chief of staff moved here from California. He spent the night securing his house. And my question for him as well, which is worse, the earthquakes in California or the hurricanes here. His response was at least we know the hurricanes are coming.</s>WARD: All right. Congressman Blake Farenthold, thank you so much for taking the time. We will be thinking of you and your constituents throughout the coming hours and days. Of course, we will have much more coverage of Hurricane Harvey throughout the show, including an interview with a hurricane hunter who has been flying through the storm. Yes, through the storm. Up next, President Trump attacks another Republican senator on Twitter. Here is what he had to say about Bob Corker, who was once a candidate for secretary of state. Stay with us.