CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (Reuters) Aug. 25, 2017 – Hurricane Harvey intensified on Friday and was poised to hit the mainland United States this evening as the most powerful storm in more than a decade and authorities warned residents to shelter from life-threatening winds and flooding.

    Hurricane Harvey strengthens, threatens record flooding in Texas

Harvey became a Category 3 hurricane, the third most powerful, the National Hurricane Center said on Friday. Forecasters said the storm would hit land near Corpus Christi, Texas, around 8 p.m. or 9 p.m. CDT (0100-0200 GMT), dropping over three feet of rain in some areas along the central Texas coast, and potentially loop back over the Gulf of Mexico before hitting Houston.
“My urgent message to my fellow Texans is that if you live in a region where evacuation has been ordered, you need to heed that advice and get out of harm’s way while you can,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said in a televised address.
U.S. gasoline prices spiked as the storm shut down 22 percent, or 377,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Gulf of Mexico oil production and halted 4.4 percent of U.S. refinery output, according to the U.S. government.
“We may be looking at unprecedented and major to record flooding,” said forecaster John Tharp of Weather Decision Technologies,
Sea levels may surge as high as 12 feet (3.7 meters) and flood warnings are in effect for Louisiana and northern Mexico, Tharp said.
Gas stations and grocery stores in the region were packed as residents readied their cars and pantries for any shortages following the storm. Coldplay, the British rock band, canceled a Friday concert in Houston, telling fans it didn’t want to risk anyone’s safety.
At a Willis, Texas, station, about 50 miles (77 km) north of Houston, Corey Martinez, 40, was heading to Dallas from his Corpus Christi home.
“It has been pretty stressful. We’re just trying to get ahead of the storm,” he said. “We’ve never been through a hurricane before.”