TODAY’S EDITORIAL >> STAY SAFE IN WAKE OF HURRICANE HARVEY, pg. 4
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HURRICANE HARVEY
FASTFACTS Hurricane Harvey • Strongest storm since Charley in 2004. • The first storm of its size in U.S. since Wilma in 2005. • The first hurricane to hit the state since Hurricane Ike in 2008. • The strongest to hit the state since Hurricane Carla in 1961. • The eighth named storm, third hurricane, and first major hurricane of 2017.
Felicia Frazar - Seguin Gazette
FEMA truck are seen as officials set up a staging area at the Seguin Auxiliary Airfield waiting for deployment during Hurricane Harvey on Friday.
Timeline • Harvey developed from a tropical wave to the east of the Lesser Antilles on Aug. 17. • The storm crossed through the Windward Islands on the following day, passing just south of Barbados and later near Saint Vincent. • Harvey began to weaken early on Aug. 19 before re-developing over the Bay of Campeche on Aug. 23. • Harvey then began to rapidly intensify on Aug. 24. • Harvey continued to strengthen to a Category 4 before making landfall near Corpus Christi Friday.
Image courtesy of NASA Near Earth Observatory
Battered Seguin braces as storm continues
Felicia Frazar felicia.frazar@ seguingazette.com
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Contacts
arvey, formerly a tropical storm, came in as a Category 4 hurricane, making landfall just east of Corpus Christi and headed toward South Central Texas.
• Bluebonnet Electric 1-800-949-4414 • Guadalupe County Office of Emergency Management 830-303-8856 www.co.guadalupe.tx.us/ em/em.php • Guadalupe County Sheriff’s Office 830-379-1224 • GVEC 1-800-223-4832 • Seguin Fire Department 830-401-2310 • Seguin Police Department 830-379-2123 • Seguin Utilities 830-401-2404 • Texas Department of Public Safety 830-379-6802
As of noon on Saturday, wind speeds were nearing 40 miles per hour, with gusts of more than 50, knocking over trees and blowing barricades down, Seguin Public Information Officer Morgan Ash. “We have a lot power outages reported, trees
on streets and barricades blowing over,” she said. “We encourage residents to say indoors and out of the storm.” City and county officials were monitoring the storm from the Emergency Operations Center stationed in the Guadalupe County Courthouse. Guadalupe County is home to three tributaries, and officials said that with heavy rains, all three could easily spill over their banks. As of press time, Guadalupe County had ordered a voluntary evacuation for residents along the rivers and in the low laying areas. The county identified three potential shelters for use if the situation worsened, but none were open yet. STORM - 9A
What to expect through weekend Staff reports Slow-moving Hurricane Harvey slammed into the Texas coastline near Rockport Friday night as a Category 4 storm. By Saturday morning, Harvey had lost some of his steam, with experts downgrading the storm to a Category 1. Still, the massive storm was expected to dump tremendous amounts of rain on the Lone Star State over the weekend and into the early parts of next week. According to the latest projections, as of press time Saturday, Guadalupe County remained under both a Flood Warning and a Flash Flood Watch through the weekend. Residents can expect tropical storm conditions, with heavy rainfall and winds between 30 to 40 mph, with gusts up to 50 mph.
D.C. acts to aid state with storm Feds set up shop in Seguin Felicia Frazar felicia.frazar@seguingazette.com Trucks and trailers parked at the Seguin Auxiliary Airfield are packed with supplies and waiting for deployment. FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Administration) is prepared to jump into action to help with Hurricane Harvey’s “As of Friday aftermath. morning they The federal agency, through the assis- had 96,000 liters tance of Joint Base of water, 306,000 San Antonio, is stag- meals and 4,500 ing at the Seguin tarps and there Auxiliary Airfield with food, water and were more en other supplies in route.” what Robin Smith, Robin Smith FEMA Region VI FEMA Region VI spokesperson, called spokesperson an Incident Support Base. “As of Friday morning they had 96,000 liters of water, 306,000 meals and 4,500 tarps and there were more en route,” she said. “Evidently, there are three Incident Support Bases and they are all near in Seguin.” In addition to supplies, FEMA also has support staff ready to roll out, Smith said. “We’ve got two FEMA incident management assistance teams in place in Austin at the state emergency operations center,” she said. “We’ve already got staff on the ground in preparation for deployment. There are six federal search and rescue task forces that are FEMA - 9A
Harvey slams into Texas coast as Category 4 storm Frank Bajak Associated Press CORPUS CHRISTI — Hurricane Harvey settled over the Texas Gulf Coast on Saturday, lashing the shore with damaging winds and dumping torrents of rain across hundreds of miles of coastline that braced for life-threatening storm surges — walls of
water rushing inland. The fiercest hurricane to hit the U.S. in more than a decade made landfall Friday night about 30 miles northeast of Corpus Christi as a Category 4 storm with 130 mph winds. It gradually weakened over several hours to Category 1, but the system remained destructive, with sustained winds of 90 mph.
No deaths were immediately reported. High winds kept emergency crews out of many places, and it could be hours before authorities are able to fully assess damage in coastal communities. The mayor of Rockport, a coastal city of about 10,000 that was directly in the storm’s path, said his community took a blow
“right on the nose” that left “widespread devastation.” Early reports indicated that the roof of a high school had partially caved in and that the historic downtown sustained extensive damage. Mayor Charles “C.J.” Wax told The Weather Channel that the city’s emergency response system had been hampered by the loss of
cellphone service and other forms of communication. About 10 people were taken to the county jail for treatment after the roof of a senior housing complex collapsed, television station KIII reported. On Friday, Rockport Mayor Pro Tem Patrick Rios had offered ominous advice, telling the station that those who chose to stay
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Expect strong winds and heavy rain to continue.
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put rather than evacuate “should make some type of preparation to mark their arm with a Sharpie pen,” implying that the marks would make it easier for rescuers to identify them. By dawn, nearly 300,000 consumers were without power in the Texas coastal region. Nearly 20 inches of COAST - 9A PRICE: $1.50
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