National Weather Service Warns Harvey Is ‘Unprecedented,’ Impacts ‘Unknown’

Two kayakers try to beat the current pushing them down an overflowing Brays Bayou along S. Braeswood in Houston, Texas, Sunday, Aug. 27, 2017. Rescuers answered hundreds of calls for help Sunday as floodwaters from the remnants of Hurricane Harvey climbed high enough to begin filling second-story homes, and authorities urged stranded families to seek refuge on their rooftops. (Mark Mulligan/Houston Chronicle via AP)
Two kayakers try to beat the current pushing them down an overflowing Brays Bayou from Tropical Storm Harvey in Houston, Texas, Sunday, Aug. 27, 2017. (Mark Mulligan/Houston Chronicle via AP)
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The National Weather Service on Sunday warned that Harvey “is unprecedented” and that its impacts “are unknown” and “beyond anything experienced.”

The National Weather Service issued the warning two days after Harvey made landfall Friday night, amid ongoing rescue attempts, severe flooding and damage from the hurricane.

Asked on CNN’s “State of the Union” about long-term recovery efforts for the storm, Federal Emergency Management Agency chief Brock Long said the agency will “be there for years.”

“This disaster will be a landmark,” Long said. “We’re setting up and gearing up for the next couple of years.”

He said Harvey is “nothing like Katrina,” the 2005 hurricane that devastated New Orleans.

“This is a storm that the United States has not seen yet,” Long said. “It started with a category 4 with storm surge right off the coast, and now it’s bleeding into a multiple day inland, inland threat from torrential rainfall.”

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Notable Replies

  1. “No one could have foreseen this”

  2. How many inches of rain so far?

  3. For reference, Houston alone covers an area of 1660 square miles… 20 inches of rain over the area is about 45 days of water over Niagra Falls in the course of 24-36 hours. And we’re expecting another 20 inches over the next two-three days.

  4. Gee, kinda sounds like what we all warned everyone about Trump even before he was elected. Except, of course, for the people who forecast, “Both corrupt hurricanes are exactly the same! And her 180 MPH emails!”

  5. Avatar for pshah pshah says:

    The National Weather Service on Sunday warned that Harvey “is unprecedented” and that its impacts “are unknown” and “beyond anything experienced.”

    If anyone cares to read between the lines, they’re saying climate change is real and it’s already here. I wonder if any minds will change after this devastating hurricane.

    Certainly hoping that people stay safe there.

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