MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Hurricane Harvey continues to pose a deadly threat across the US Gulf Coast despite its gradual easing, the country’s National Hurricane Center (NHC) said in a statement on Sunday.
"While Harvey's winds are decreasing, life threatening hazards will continue from heavy rainfall over much of southeastern Texas and from storm surge along portions of the Texas coast," the statement read.
The NHC is expecting "catastrophic and life-threatening" flooding across the middle and upper part of the Texas coast, which may last through Thursday.
"A Storm Surge Warning remains in effect for portions of the Texas coast. Life-threatening storm surge flooding will be slow to recede due to the slow motion of Harvey and a prolonged period of onshore flow," the statement said.
Earlier on Sunday, media reported the death of three people in Aransas County due to the storm, while local authorities in Houston and Rockport confirmed the death of two people in the storm.
Harvey began to move onshore on the central coast of Texas early on Saturday. The hurricane was downgraded to a tropical storm by the NHC later on the same day. Harvey is the largest storm to hit the United States since the disastrous Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
