The National Hurricane Center is telling Texas residents along the Gulf Coast to "rush" their storm preparations to completion this morning as Hurricane Harvey rapidly intensifies.
The hurricane is expected to make landfall in Texas around 1 am Saturday morning. The mayor of Corpus Christi on the southern coast is urging residents to leave in the "strongest possible terms."
Mandatory evacuations have been announced in seven Texas counties.
Hurricane Harvey is expected to be a Category 3 storm by the time it makes landfall. Texas hasn't been hit by such a powerful storm since 1999.
Current forecast tracks keep the storm lingering around southern Texas possibly through the middle of next week.
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