Hurricane Harvey has strengthened into a Category 2 storm on the Saffir-Simpson scale as it takes aim at the Texas coast, the US National Hurricane Center said in its latest advisory today.
The hurricane is now located about 355 km southeast of Corpus Christi, Texas, packing maximum sustained winds of 160 km per hour, the NHC said.
Harvey will bring rains and a storm surge that will bring "life-threatening and devastating flooding" to parts of the Texas coast
The storm is likely to make landfall along the middle of the Texas coast by tonight or early Saturday, it added.
A Gulf of Mexico storm rapidly intensified on Thursday spinning into the potentially biggest hurricane to hit the mainland United States in 12 years and taking aim at the heart of nation's oil refining industry.
The storm could bring a surge in sea levels as high as 3.7 meters and dump up to 97 cm of rain over parts of Texas. Flood warnings are also in effect for northern Mexico and Louisiana.
The threat has triggered evacuations and canceled the first day of school in communities along the south Texas coast, which is home to 5.8 million people from Corpus Christi to Galveston.
Energy companies shut coastal refineries, pulled workers from Gulf of Mexico offshore oil platforms and halted onshore drilling in south Texas on Thursday. Just under 10 per cent of offshore US Gulf of Mexico crude output capacity and nearly 15 per cent of natural gas production was halted by midday, government data showed.
Harvey is forecast to come ashore as a Category 3 hurricane, the US National Hurricane Center said, the third most powerful on the Saffir-Simpson scale, which would make it the first major hurricane to hit the mainland United States since Hurricane Wilma struck Florida in 2005.
Louisiana and Texas issued disaster declarations, authorising the use of state resources to prepare for the storm.
Harvey will bring rains and a storm surge that will bring "life-threatening and devastating flooding" to parts of the Texas coast, the NHC said in an advisory.
President Donald Trump has been briefed on the storm and stands ready to provide resources if needed, the White House said on Thursday.