Typhoon Harvey has pummeled into Texas with winds of up to 130mph (215 km/h) battering seaside territories.
The tempest, which has much more grounded blasts, is the most effective to hit the US territory for a long time. Up to 40in (1m) of rain is relied upon to fall.
President Donald Trump has marked a debacle announcement for the state, which will free up government help for the most exceedingly awful influenced territories.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has cautioned of record flooding in various locales.
Harvey made landfall around 22:00 nearby time (03:00 GMT) as a Category 4 storm, and has just cut down trees and cut power in the city of Corpus Christi. A huge number of inhabitants have blocked their homes and fled.
Around three hours after it struck, the tempest was minimized to Category 3 after breezes dropped marginally to 125mph (201km/h). It remains dangerous, and fit for making significant harm structures.
The leader of seaside Rockport, Patrick Rios, asked the few outstanding individuals in the 10,000-in number town to leave promptly.
The city supervisor said individuals were caught in a lodging place for elderly individuals, where the rooftop had crumpled and save groups were not able get entrance, as indicated by CBS.
A driver drives through overwhelming precipitation before the moving toward Hurricane Harvey hits Corpus Christi (25 August 2017)Image copyrightAFP
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Corpus Christi is presently feeling the full brunt of the tempest
Power organization trucks are arranged ahead of time of Hurricane Harvey in Victoria, Texas (25 August 2017)Image copyrightREUTERS
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Power organization trucks are on standby to manage blackouts
Tempest waters in Corpus Christi (25 August 2017)Image copyrightREUTERS
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Meteorologists have cautioned that Harvey could keep on dumping precipitation until the center of one week from now
Long lines of movement have been taking off of the tempest's way.
Representative Abbot said it was evident Texas was going up against an "extremely real calamity", and more than 1,000 National Guardsmen were to help with the debacle alleviation operation.
High breezes started lashing the drift at dusk on Friday as waterfront water levels ascended in the meantime.
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This tempest is frightening
By BBC's James Cook, Corpus Christi
As we moved toward this beach front city over a progression of highways and extensions, haziness was falling and the flooding was at that point starting, with foaming waves eating at the street.
At a certain point our auto was passed up the power of the breeze, and at regular intervals an electrical discharge would light up the sky with a shocking green blaze.
When the eye of the tempest was making landfall only 30 miles up the drift we were dug in inside a lodging, tuning in to the commotion of shrieking wind punctuated by the periodic crash.
I viewed from an entryway along the edge of the inn as the mass of a substantial metal working under development came crushing to the ground.
Thick palm trees have additionally been cut down and by the gleam of road lights and the flashes of lightning, you can see that the air is thick with driving shower.
This tempest is effective, it is unsafe and it is frightening.
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Harvey is the primary real tempest of the Atlantic storm season and has extremely hampered Gulf of Mexico oil creation and air travel.
Tempest surges of up to 12ft (4m) are normal throughout the following couple of days and the National Hurricane Center cautioned of hazardous surges in and around Houston.
Forecasters say the tempest's way is questionable however it is normal throughout the following couple of hours to be close or quite recently inland of the center of the Texas drift.
Mr Trump is probably going to visit Texas ahead of schedule one week from now, the White House said.
In pictures: Texas props for Hurricane Harvey
The tempest is likely be the most grounded tempest to hit the US since October 2005, when Hurricane Wilma struck the shore of Florida.
Wilma left 87 individuals dead and was a piece of a record-breaking tropical storm season that included Katrina, which crushed New Orleans and murdered about 2,000 individuals in August of that year.
The last classification four tempest to hit the US was Charley in August 2004.
Energized direct: Hurricanes
What is storm surge?
What are the perils?
Anticipated way of Hurricane Harvey - 25 August 2017
While Harvey is pressing solid and possibly annihilating breezes, the greatest dangers to Texas are precipitation and the tempest surge.
Meteorologists say Harvey could stay in the range, dumping precipitation until the center of one week from now.
Oil-rich Houston, the fourth greatest city in the US, could confront up to 20in of rain over the coming days.
Over that, the focal Texas drift is probably going to see a critical tempest surge - this happens when low weight adrift "lifts" tides to a level higher than typical, and high breezes at that point blow the water inland.
The NHC said it expected "cataclysmic flooding" over the drift and in some inland regions all through south-east Texas.
Parts of Texas are as of now observing a tempest surge 2.5ft above typical.
Media captionThe BBC Weather Center figure for Texas.
Around 45% of US oil refining happens on the Gulf of Mexico drift, and Corpus Christi is an imperative port for the business.
Unrefined petroleum creation has backed off by around 20% to plan for the tempest, and fears Harvey could prompt a deficiency in fuel have helped drive up costs.
Long lines of autos have been spotted leaving focal Texas and the British band Coldplay scratched off a Friday night show in Houston.
No less than 20,000 travelers on three journey ships have been not able land in Galveston, Texas, voyage administrator Carnival Corp said.
The Houston Chronicle detailed they, and the travelers on one other ship, may need to remain out adrift until the center of one week from now.
In the interim, Driscoll Children's Hospital in Corpus Christi has flown no less than 10 babies from its neonatal emergency unit healing facilities encourage inland, because of dread of energy disappointments.
Media captionTomasz Schafernaker investigates the arrangement of storms and where their vitality originates from
Realistic demonstrating the five tropical storm scales
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