Hurricane Harvey caused historic flooding in southern Texas for four days in August 2017. Hurricane Harvey formed on August 17, 2017 east of the Lesser Antilles. Six days later, after degenerating back into a tropical wave and moving through the Caribbean Sea, Harvey reformed and rapidly intensified in the Gulf of Mexico. Early on August 26, Harvey made landfall in San José Island, Texas at a high intensity as a Category 4 hurricane with winds of 130 mph and a pressure of 937 mb. A couple of hours Harvey made another landfall in Holiday Beach as a slightly weaker high-end Category 3 storm. After that, Harvey rapidly weakened and stalled for multiple days over Texas, dropping torrential rainfall. Harvey eventually moved back into the Gulf on August 28, and a day later, Harvey made a fifth and final landfall west of Cameron, Louisiana.

The large and powerful hurricane dropped heavy rainfall over parts of southern and southeastern Texas. Over four days, Harvey dropped large amounts of rainfall, peaking at in Nederland, Texas, making it the wettest tropical cyclone on record in the United States.60 inches of rain fell from Hurricane Harvey in Texas, shattering U.S. storm record – The Washington Post The highest gust from Harvey was recorded at in Rockport, Texas, where every single building was damaged by the storm. Overall, Harvey contributed to 68 direct deaths and 35 indirect deaths–a total of 103–and caused at least $51.177 billion in damage in Texas alone.

Preparations Upon the NHC resuming advisories for Harvey at 15:00 UTC on August 23, a hurricane watch was issued in Texas from Port Mansfield to San Luis Pass, while a tropical storm watch was posted from Port Mansfield south to the mouth of the Rio Grande and from San Luis Pass to High Island. Additionally, a storm surge watch became in effect from Port Mansfield to High Island. Additional watches and warnings were posted in these areas at 09:00 UTC on August 24, with a hurricane warning from Port Mansfield to Matagorda; a tropical storm warning from Matagorda to High Island; a hurricane watch and tropical storm warning from Port Mansfield to the Rio Grande; a storm surge warning from Port Mansfield to San Luis Pass; and a storm surge watch from Port Mansfield to the Rio Grande. As the hurricane neared landfall on August 24, an extreme wind warning—indicating an immediate threat of winds—was issued for areas expected to be impacted by the eyewall; this included parts of Aransas, Calhoun, Nueces, Refugio, and San Patricio counties. The watches and warnings were adjusted accordingly after Harvey moved inland and began weakening, with the warning discontinued at 15:00 UTC on August 26. By 09:00 UTC on the following day, only a tropical storm warning and a storm surge warning remained in effect from Port O'Connor to Sargent. However, watches and warnings were re-issued as Harvey began to re-emerge into the Gulf of Mexico, and beginning at 15:00 UTC on August 28, a tropical storm warning was in effect for the entire Gulf Coast of Texas from High Island northward.

Governor Greg Abbott declared a state of emergency for 30 counties on August 23, while mandatory evacuations were issued for Brazoria, Calhoun, Jackson, Refugio, San Patricio, and Victoria counties, as well as parts of Matagorda County. On August 26, Governor Abbott added an additional 20 counties to the state of emergency declaration. Furthermore, the International Charter on Space and Major Disasters was activated by the USGS on behalf of the Governor's Texas Emergency Management Council, including the Texas Division of Emergency Management, thus providing for humanitarian satellite coverage. The Padre Island National Seashore also closed on August 24.Padre Island National Seashore is closing due to Hurricane Harvey, KSAT, August 24, 2017

Impacts

22 weak tornadoes touched down throughout the state. An EF1 tornado near Fresno caused some minor injuries. Total damage from the tornadoes reached $7.601 million, according to the National Centers for Environmental Information.

Throughout Texas, approximately 336,000 people were left without electricity and tens of thousands required rescue. Throughout the state, 103 people died in storm-related incidents: 68 from its direct effects, including flooding, and 35 from indirect effects in the hurricane's aftermath. By August 29, 2017 approximately 13,000 people had been rescued across the state while an estimated 30,000 were displaced. The refinery industry capacity was reduced, and oil and gas production was affected in the Gulf of Mexico and inland Texas. On Monday, the closure of oil refineries ahead of Hurricane Harvey created a fuel shortage. Panicked motorists waited in long lines. Consequently, gas stations through the state were forced to close due to the rush. More than 20 percent of refining capacity was affected.

More than 48,700 homes were affected by Harvey throughout the state, including over 1,000 that were completely destroyed and more than 17,000 that sustained major damage; approximately 32,000 sustained minor damage. Nearly 700 businesses were damaged as well. Yet the Texas Department of Public Safety stated more than 185,000 homes were damaged and 9,000 destroyed. Over 500 roads closed throughout Texas, leading to the Texas Department of Transportation website receiving 5 million visits.

The hurricane also caused many people to believe that in the wild, only 10 individuals of Attwater's prairie chicken remained at most until Spring 2018, when it was discovered that there were about a dozen wild individuals left.

Landfall area

Making landfall as a Category 4 hurricane, Harvey inflicted tremendous damage across Aransas County. Wind gusts were observed up to near Port Aransas. Nearly every structure in Port Aransas was damaged, some severely, while significant damage from storm surge also occurred. In Rockport, entire blocks were destroyed by the hurricane's violent eyewall winds. The city's courthouse was severely damaged when a cargo trailer was hurled into it, coming to a stop halfway through the structure. The gymnasium of the Rockport-Fulton High School lost multiple walls while the school itself suffered considerable damage. Many homes, apartment buildings, and businesses sustained major structural damage from the intense winds, and several were completely destroyed. Numerous boats were damaged or sunk at a marina in town, airplanes and structures were destroyed at the Aransas County Airport, and a Fairfield Inn in the city was severely damaged as well. About 20 percent of Rockport's population was displaced, and they were still unable to return to their homes a year after the hurricane. One person died in a house fire in the city, unable to be rescued due to the extreme weather conditions. Just north of Rockport, many structures were also severely damaged in the nearby town of Fulton. In the small community of Holiday Beach, catastrophic damage occurred as almost every home in town was severely damaged or destroyed by storm surge and violent winds. By the afternoon of August 26, more than of rain had fallen in the Corpus Christi metropolitan area. All of Victoria was left without water and most had no power.

Houston metropolitan area flooding

Many locations in the Houston metropolitan area observed at least of precipitation, with a maximum of in Nederland. This makes Harvey the wettest tropical cyclone on record for both Texas and the United States, surpassing the previous rainfall record held by Tropical Storm Amelia. The local National Weather Service office in Houston observed all-time record daily rainfall accumulations on both August 26 and 27, measured at respectively. Due to the amount of rain accumulated from Harvey, the National Weather Service added 2 new colors to the rain index representing around 50% of the maximum rainfall dropped by Harvey. Multiple flash flood emergencies were issued in the Houston area by the National Weather Service beginning the night of August 26. In Pearland, a suburb south of Houston, a report was made of of rainfall in 90 minutes. The of rain in August made the month the wettest ever recorded in Houston since record keeping began in 1892, more than doubling the previous record of in June 2001. The of rain from August 26–28 set a United States record for highest 3-day rainfall at a major city. The storm surge peaked at 6 feet at Port Lavaca, reducing outflow of rainwater from land to sea.

During the storm, more than 800 Houston area flights were canceled, including 704 at George Bush Intercontinental Airport and 123 at William P. Hobby Airport. Both airports eventually closed. Several tornadoes were spawned in the area, one of which damaged or destroyed the roofs of dozens of homes in Sienna Plantation. As of August 29, 14 fatalities have been confirmed from flooding in the Houston area, including 6 from the same family who died when their van was swept off a flooded bridge. A police officer drowned while trying to escape rising waters.

An estimated 25–30 percent of Harris County—roughly of land—was submerged.

Late on August 27, a mandatory evacuation was issued for all of Bay City as model projections indicated the downtown area would be inundated by of water. Flooding was anticipated to cut off access to the city around 1:00 pm. CDT on August 28. Evacuations took place in Conroe on August 28 following release of water from the Lake Conroe dam. On the morning on August 29, a levee along Columbia Lakes in Brazoria County was breached, prompting officials to urgently request for everyone in the area to evacuate.

On August 28, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began controlled water releases from Addicks and Barker Reservoirs in the Buffalo Bayou watershed in an attempt to manage flood levels in the immediate area. According to the local Corps commander, "It's going to be better to release the water through the gates directly into Buffalo Bayou as opposed to letting it go around the end and through additional neighborhoods and ultimately into the bayou." At the time the releases started, the reservoirs had been rising at more than per hour. Many people began evacuating the area, fearing a levee breach. Despite attempts to alleviate the water rise, the Addicks Reservoir reached capacity on the morning of August 29 and began spilling out. The NASA Johnson Space Center was closed to employees and visitors due to the flooding until September 5. Only the critical mission control staff remained and resided in the control rooms to monitor procedures of the International Space Station.

Deep East Texas and Beaumont to Port Arthur area

The Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area also experienced torrential precipitation, including of rainfall in Beaumont. Rising waters of the Neches River caused the city to lose service from its main pump station, as well as its secondary water source in Hardin County, cutting water supply to the city for an unknown amount of time. Flooding to the north and east of the Houston area resulted in mandatory evacuations for portions of Liberty, Jefferson, and Tyler counties, while Jasper and Newton counties were under a voluntary evacuation. One death occurred in Beaumont when a woman exited her disabled vehicle, but was swept away. In Port Arthur, the mayor stated that the entire city was submerged by water. Hundreds of displaced residents went to the Robert A. "Bob" Bowers Civic Center for shelter, but they were evacuated again after the building began to flood. Water entered at least several hundreds of homes in Jefferson County.

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