Hurricane Harvey arrives, Texas’ Gulf communities hold breath

Winds more than 100 mph and torrential rains

By Matt Woolbright and Eleanor Dearman Corpus Christi Caller-Times, Texas • August 25, 2017 10:00 pm
Shoppers look for last-minute supplies at H-E-B Plus on Saratoga Boulevard in Corpus Christi, Texas just minutes before it closes as Hurricane Harvey nears the coast on Friday, Aug. 25, 2017. (Rachel Denny Clow/Corpus Christi Caller-Times/TNS)
Shoppers look for last-minute supplies at H-E-B Plus on Saratoga Boulevard in Corpus Christi, Texas just minutes before it closes as Hurricane Harvey nears the coast on Friday, Aug. 25, 2017. (Rachel Denny Clow/Corpus Christi Caller-Times/TNS)

Hurricane Harvey arrives, Texas’ Gulf communities hold breath

Corpus Christi Caller-Times

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Winds are howling and driving rain horizontally causing “major damage” as Hurricane Harvey tears through Texas’ Coastal Bend area.

Throughout the region, families, friends, co-workers and strangers are hunkered down holding their breath as a storm that will go down in history as one of Texas’ worst has its way.

The storm is delivering its most vicious punches to the sleepy seaside communities of Rockport, Fulton and Port Aransas.

Aransas County Emergency Management Chief Deputy John Gutierrez said he and his colleagues are stuck in the building and do not know about what damages may have occurred in the area.

“It’s over 100 miles an hour outside I think and raining like crazy, and there’s no way to tell,” Gutierrez said.

While they are receiving calls from people who may be trying to report things to Emergency Management, they cannot respond to anything because winds are too high. He said they are expecting to not be able to respond until the wind stops.

As of Friday evening the eye of the Category 4 storm was shrouded in walls of wind screaming around at 130 miles per hour just miles from Rockport and Port Aransas.

Power is out in much of region, so no one knows how bad the damage is, or if anyone has been hurt by the storm that eclipsed every forecast.

“We’re going to have major damage and we’ll have a big mess to clean up, but if we can get through this without any injuries or fatalities then that’s a success,” said Corpus Christi Mayor Joe McComb.

McComb and Nueces County Judge Loyd Neal have come under fire for a decision to not order a mandatory evacuation despite forecasts calling for a Category 3 storm.

As the storm pummeled the region Friday night, McComb stood by the decision.

“We made the right decision — I don’t have any regrets about the decision we made,” McComb said. “We did what we thought was the best for the citizens of Corpus Christi.

“We told those with the highest potential for problems to get out and they listened,” he added.

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