Tropical Storm Harvey hammers southern Texas, killing 1 as floods, fires plague residents
FOX NEWS - Tropical Storm Harvey spawned tornadoes, flooding, fires and widespread power outages across southern Texas on Saturday. At least one person was killed and 12 to 14 injured.
A dozens tornadoes swept through the Houston area on Saturday as the storm stalled out. Meteorologists are predicting that some areas could get three feet of rain before it's through.
Behind the giant storm, the largest to hit Texas in more than a decade, production on oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico remained halted, coastal refineries were idle and thousands of cruise ship customers waited offshore until their vessels were able to dock safely.
A massive fire destroyed at least three homes on Bolivar Peninsula late Friday night, according to 12 News Now. More than 200,000 homes and businesses were without power.
At least 15,000 people aboard three Carnival Cruise Line ships scheduled to return to Galveston this weekend were delayed or detoured due to the hurricane. The Port of Galveston was closed on Friday.
A statement from the Miami-based Carnival Cruise Line said the Carnival Freedom and Carnival Valor were at sea and would remain a safe distance from the hurricane.
Petroleum companies evacuated personnel from 86 Gulf of Mexico platforms, according to the Oil & Gas Journal.
By the time Hurricane Harvey was downgraded to a Tropical Storm Saturday, it had already delivered a 1-2 punch to the Gulf Coast of Texas, making landfall twice, with powerful wind gusts and the threat of catastrophic flooding.