PORT MANSFIELD — Steady rains and gusty winds swept across this bayside fishing village yesterday as Hurricane Harvey picked up strength about 60 miles offshore.
But what will happen today remains unclear.
A hurricane warning was in effect after officials requested a voluntary evacuation of residents in mobile homes and those with medical conditions, Police Chief David Mays said yesterday morning.
“We’re prepared to deal with whatever comes,” Mays said yesterday. “Things are starting to pick up. We’ve had steady rains for several hours.”
Officials were also barring non-residents from entering the village on the banks of the Laguna Madre, Mays said.
“It’s an effort to keep them from becoming victims and so we don’t have looting or people messing with property,” Mays said.
Officials were braced for conditions to worsen, Sheriff Larry Spence said.
“I think most of the problem arrives tonight,” Spence said, referring to Friday evening. “We’ve got all officers on standby. All leaves are canceled until we see this thing through.”
Across Willacy County, County Judge Aurelio Guerra declared a state of emergency Thursday afternoon based on the weather forecast at that time.
“We have to prepare for a worst-case scenario,” Frank Torres, the county’s emergency management coordinator, said yesterday morning. “Port Mansfield is under a hurricane warning so we have to prepare accordingly.”
In Raymondville, about a quarter-inch of rain had fallen by late yesterday morning, Hallman said.
So far, the low-lying area had been spared of flooding, Mayor Gilbert Gonzales said.
In Port Mansfield, most non-residents had fled as radar showed winds of 45 mph sweeping across the tiny fishing village, Rick Hallman, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Brownsville, said yesterday at about 11 a.m.
By morning, he said, the hurricane had dumped about a half-inch of rain across the Port Mansfield area.
Offshore, Hurricane Harvey steadily slowed to about 10 mph as it strengthened about 60 miles east of Kenedy County, Hallman said.
Hallman said landfall was projected between midnight and 4 a.m. today north of Corpus Christi.
“They expect it to slow down. It’s expected to strengthen. It’s transitioning to a flood event. There’s going to be a lot of rain,” Hallman said, referring to the area in which the hurricane makes landfall.
