Hurricane Harvey makes landfall in Texas as category 4

A powerful storm has made landfall in Texas as a Category 4 hurricane in what officials have warned could be a "major disaster" for the US state and surrounding areas.

The eye of Hurricane Harvey hit land between the Port of Aransas and Port O'Connor, Texas late on Friday, according to the National Hurricane Center.

It is expected to be the most powerful hurricane to hit the US mainland since 2005.

Prior to the storm making landfall, US President Donald Trump signed a disaster proclamation for Texas, freeing up federal funds for assistance.

Earlier in the day, Texas Governor Greg Abbott had asked Trump to preemptively declare Harvey a "major disaster" in order to speed federal aid.

"We can obviously tell already at this stage this is going to be a very major disaster," Abbot said, as more than 1,000 National Guardsmen were activated.

"We're going to be dealing with really record-setting flooding in multiple regions."
     [aljazeera.com]
26/8/17
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