Hurricane Harvey downgrades in south US, heavy rain continues

US National Hurricane Center said on Saturday Hurricane Harvey has downgraded to a tropical storm after landfall Friday night. Texas coastal areas in south US, including Houston, has experienced bands of heavy rain and several tornadoes. There is no casualty report so far.


Although the storm has weakened, forecasters are watching to see if it continues to march up the middle of Texas or whether it will turn to set its sights on Houston and Galveston, the coastal island about 75 km southeast of Houston.

In fear of flooding and tornadoes, several Houston suburb areas have issued mandatory evacuations. Several rivers in Houston suburb are expected to reach their highest measure level since 1960s.

Weather forecast showed there have been than 50 cm of rain in the coastal area of Texas since the landfall of Harvey and another 40 to 50 cm of rain is expected in the coming days.

   [globaltimes.cn/Xinhua]

27/8/17