Harvey weakens to tropical storm as flooding hits Texas

Hurricane Harvey has been downgraded to a tropical storm as it moves inland over Texas, the National Hurricane Center announced Saturday afternoon.

The storm now has 70 mile per hour winds, with major flooding reported in parts of Texas along the coast.

“Now that the hurricane has come on shore, our primary concern remains dramatic flooding,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) said during a press conference to provide updates on the storm.

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“In various key regions ranging from Corpus Christie to the Houston area, perhaps as much as between 20 or more inches of rain could be coming down,” he said. 

Abbott said that there were more than 338,000 power outages throughout the state, adding that it could take days before the outages are addressed due to the current high windspeeds.

The search-and-rescue operations in the state involve 1,000 personnel, governor said, adding that he couldn’t yet confirm any fatalities.

Do not focus on the fact that #Harvey is now a tropical storm- a catastrophic flooding event is still unfolding! https://t.co/tW4KeGdBFb pic.twitter.com/kNbbePrOZL

— NHC Atlantic Ops (@NHC_Atlantic) August 26, 2017

The downgrade comes less than a day after the-then hurricane barreled toward the Gulf Coast, bringing upwards of 30 inches of rain and strong gusts of wind. 

Tornadoes, fires and power outages were reported in the wake of the storm, which made landfall in Texas on Friday night.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas reported the storm had caused power outages for 300,000 customers along the Texas coast. 

President Trump signed a disaster proclamation Friday for Texas, granting the state federal aid for the storm. He received multiples updates from senior aides Friday night and Saturday, the White House said.

Trump and Vice President Pence met Saturday with the Cabinet and senior administration officials to discuss the federal response, according to a White House statement.

“President Trump emphasized his expectations that all departments and agencies stay fully engaged and positioned to support his number one priority of saving lives,” the statement said, adding that the president “sends his thanks to the many volunteer and faith-based organizations that are dedicating their time and effort to helping their fellow Americans.”

Updated: 2:38 p.m.