Saturday, August 26, 2017

Hurricane Harvey (2017)

Hurricane Harvey is a currently active tropical cyclone that recently made landfall in Texas as a Category 4 hurricane. It is the first major hurricane to make landfall in the United States since Wilma in 2005, ending a record 12-year period with no storms making landfall in the United States as a major hurricane. Harvey is the first hurricane to hit the state of Texas since Ike in 2008, and the strongest to hit the state since Carla in 1961. In addition, it is the strongest hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico since Hurricane Rita in 2005 and the strongest to make landfall in the United States since Hurricane Charley in 2004.

                                                       Track of 2017 Hurricane Harvey
The eighth named storm, third hurricane, and the first major hurricane of the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season, Harvey developed from a tropical wave to the east of the Lesser Antilles on August 17. The storm crossed through the Windward Islands on the following day, passing just south of Barbados and later near Saint Vincent. Upon entering the Caribbean Sea, Harvey began to weaken due to moderate wind shear and degenerated into a tropical wave north of Colombia early on August 19. The remnants were monitored for regeneration as it continued west-northwestward across the Caribbean and the Yucatán Peninsula, before re-developing over the Bay of Campeche on August 23. Harvey then began to rapidly intensify on August 24, re-gaining tropical storm status and becoming a hurricane later that day. Moving generally northwestwards, Harvey's intensification phase stalled slightly overnight from August 24–25, however Harvey soon resumed strengthening and became a Category 4 hurricane late on August 25. Hours later, Harvey made landfall near Rockport, Texas at peak intensity.

Hurricane Harvey has been confirmed to have caused at least 2 fatalities; one in Suriname and another in the United States

President Donald Trump remained in contact with Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards and received a briefing from acting Secretary of Homeland Security Elaine Duke, Homeland Security Advisor Tom Bossert, White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly, and Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Brock Long. FEMA worked with the Coast Guard, Customs and Border Protection, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement to prepare for the storm and its aftermath. The agency placed disaster response teams on standby at emergency posts in Austin, Texas, and Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

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