that's a played out trap man ♪ ♪ you know you're not the only one ♪ ♪ don't look back, just run for ♪ tonight, breaking news. hurricane harvey, a catastrophic category 4, ravaging the texas coast as we come on the air tonight. the strongest hurricane to hit the region in five decades, bearing down with 130-mile-an-hour winds, threatening historic rain totals up to 35 inches. and storm surges of up to 12 feet. thousands fleeing the path of destruction. we're on the ground as the massive monster storm comes ashore with harrowing stories of people hunkering down as well as our abc team along the storm zone. >> announcer: this special edition of "nightline," "hurricane harvey: state of emergency," will be right back.

>> announcer: this special edition of "nightline," "hurricane harvey: state of emergency," continues. and good evening. breaking news tonight as we come on the air. hurricane harvey barreling into the texas coast as a potentially catastrophic category 4 storm plunging residents into

but the damage is just beginning as historic rainfall and life-threatening flooding are expected. governor greg abbott warning if the storm continues on this path texas is about to experience one of the worst natural disasters in its history. we'll talk with him in a moment. but first we go live to abc's matt gutman, who's been out in the whipping wind throughout the day in corpus christi, just 30 miles from where the hurricane came ashore just a short time ago. matt, what's happening? >> reporter: well, juju, we were in that town named rockport. that is where officials right now are talking about some devastating damage from the storm. it is a pan flat town. when we went there, there was a mandatory evacuation. it was basically a ghost town. but some people did stay. the mayor of that town telling people that if you do stay write your social security and your name with a sharpie on your arm because you might die. and that is the kind of situation that we're seeing there right now. they are talking about people trapped in buildi

they're collapsed buildings in a very serious situation there. and all around this area here in corpus christi, 120,000 people without power. let me give you a sense of the sounds of the night because we can't see very much yet and that is one of the problems for rescuers right now in places like rockport. it is pitch black. there are all sorts of different kinds of debris flying through the air. you hear the skittering of plexiglas that burst off a hotel. the metal from street signs just skating by. and of course the howling of the wind, this low rumble happening everywhere. we've also been hearing a tremendous amount of rumbling the past couple of hours. still a very touch and go situation here. this storm is not nearly over. and what's so remarkable about it is how much rain it has dumped in this area, not just the winds. it is simply this relentless storm pounding this area right now. juju. >> and clearly you've been seeing people run from the path of the storm throughout the day. how's the community been

reacting? >> the community's devastated and surprising there are still people driving down the roads. we spoke to one woman who came to port aransis and she's about to give birth on tuesday and she wanted to flee but she can't because she has a scheduled c-section and she basically knows that where her house is there's a mandatory evacuation, there's almost no chance that it is going to survive. this family heartbroken. so many people in this community struggling through. especially since many people left their homes. they don't know what they're going to find. we were in rockport. it is a ghost town. this pan-flat community that is going to be inundated. places like that are going to take a long time to recover. just one more note about this particular storm, juju. i've been to a lot of hurricanes, but what is unique about this is it just continues to hover and sit over this area and then it's going to make a u-turn coming back, dumping all of this rain for days on

respite after the initial passing of the storm. but not with this one. and that is what is so concerning to officials in this part of texas, juju. >> well, stay safe, matt. i know you've covered many storms, but be well. we're going to turn now, though, to port lavecqua, text tx a low-lying area which is likely to be flooded and also where there are mandatory evacuations. home to a third of america's refineries. abc meteorologist rob marciano is live from the most dangerous side of the storm. but we just lost his signal a moment ago. he joins us by phone. rob, can you hear us? >> reporter: i hear you, juju. we lost power. i just saw part of our hotel go flying off the side. a down spout dangling. thingsing to r incontinuing to . all the sounds

hearing, it's become that much more -- it's been since 2005 that i've experienced a storm of this strength at night, namely hurricane rita. that was -- [ inaudible ] similar feelings tonight. right now i'm pinned up against a pillar of our hotel, which is -- which is why we decided to stay. here staying here with other media colleagues. but now with the storm surge we are surrounded by water. this hotel is an island. we're at high tide. but tides don't mean a whole lot in this part of texas. with the winds blowing as they are i expect the water to continue to pile up things are going downhill in a hurry. now that we have no light at

all -- nbld nbltd and the rain is coming down -- [ inaudible ] >> rob, thank you so much for your reporting throughout the day and into the evening. i know you're a veteran of many of these storms. please stay safe. don't tack any undue risks. but we're going to turn now here in the studio to our meteorologist kate parker who lives and breathes hurricanes. kate, what makes this story and this particular storm so scary for you? >> it's a storm that's not measured over the course of hours. it's measured over the course of a week that we're going to look at these impacts. so this is not anything that's going to be a quick one and done. we're not measuring in inches of rain. we're measuring in feet of rain. if you look at the radar you can see this category 4 storm, the first to make landfall since 2004, has made landfall but it's not just the rain, the wind. it's a tornado threat as well. so we've got a tornado watch that's up. you can see that extends all the way from just north of corpus christi into louisiana. >> and some of it is the funny loop that the path of the storm

>> exactly. look at that flash flood watch and this explains exactly why. this is a category 2 storm inland in the forecast. it's not just on the coast. look how it meanders and these days on days. look at that. that's wednesday 7:00 p.m. and it's still hovering near houston, dumping rain all this time. that's why we're measuring in feet of rain, not inches of rain. look at this, locally over two feet possible. >> and why are there conflicting signals that we're hearing about, whether to evacuate or not? >> where can you go when you're looking at a rainfall forecast? that's a tough call to make. if you're evacuating for wind and storm surges it's an easier call. but look at this widespread area. it's all of south texas. >> sxrel the rainfall totals are scary but it's the flooding you're worried about. >> right. we've got dry soil. we're going to see quick runoff of this rain. we're going to see this rain dump in the same area for days on end. and then we've got the storm surge which means it can't drain easily. so you've got coastal flooding, you've got inland flooding. you've got days of it. it's an unusual situation. >> and the evacuation was made that much more difficult because this

fast. >> it did. it developed very quickly. on wednesday we weren't looking at a storm of this size and here we are with a category 4 landfall. but the gulf was primed. the gulf of mexico was ready for a storm of this size. everything was primed for it. we had the warm water, we had low shear, and this is what happened as a result. >> and yet this will stall over this system which will also affect air traffic in that region for days. >> it's likely you can't fly a plane in tropical storm force winds, at least not safely. looking at like i said a category 2 hurricane over land for days on end. this is not something that's going away quickly. and the people there, i worry that you look at this and say landfall's happened, we're in the clear. that is not the case. >> we appreciate your insights. thanks, kate. joining us now from taftd, texas is mary lou galinda just north of corpus christi, mary lou-i understand a tree just fell on your house? >> yes, ma'am. it broke our roof. it's like the branch off

i'm trying to -- can you see? >> and it came through the window? >> no. the roof. >> i mean it came through the roof. it came into your bedroom? >> yes. can you see it? >> i can. i can. it must be harrowing for your family. i know that you're right in the belly of this storm in the mandatory evacuation zone. what made you decide to stay? >> well, my husband is a cancer patient who's battling prostate cancer as we speak, you know. he's also in a wheelchair and has a prosthesis, and it's very hard and very difficult for him to get around. >> i know you've already shared some earlier video with us with some pretty serious storm damage coming in around your neighborhood. what else are you seeing now? >> we can't see anything because it is completely dark. and we're boarded up and we closed the doors. so we hear a lot of noises

anything. >> they're talking about 130-mile-an-hour winds. how does that sound? what does that feel like for you inside your house? >> well, we can feel the roaring. and every now and then we can feel a little shake. >> have you had seconds shots about your decision to stay? i guess you have no choice. >> oh, yes. absolutely. my husband says we should have left, we should have left. but we didn't leave. so now we've got to make the best of it. >> okay. preserve your battery power there, mary lou. we're going to wish you the very best. keep in touch and be well tonight. batten down the hatches. >> thank you. >> all right. we're going to go now to mike brotherton, who's joining us from corpus christi. mike, how's it going out there? >> we're surviving right now. at my house we still have electricity. so that's definitely a plus for us. according to reports here from the local news there's probably about 70,000, maybe a little bit more than that, that do not have electricity. so we've been fortunate so far.

outskirts of corpus christi. what does it sound like? what does it feel like? >> it's a constant howl out there. you hear the wind, you don't really hear the rain, even though the rain's going on. but the wind's definitely going. you can hear the boards on the house shaking from when we boarded up the windows. >> i know you also have a 12-year-old daughter kayla. i sympathize because i'm not sure what i would tell my kids. how has she been handling it? oh, there she is. hi, kayla. >> she's right here waiting to get on tv. >> i'd say she's holding up just fine. this must be your first big storm given that you're 12 years old. >> it's -- it was -- at first i was very nervous about it but it's a little more calming knowing that he's been through several storms and he knows what's going on. >> but it can't be fun to watch the windows on your house being boarded up. >> no, it was -- it's very dark. being boarded up it kind of tells you to brace for the worst.

>> and hope for the best. well, thanks to both of you, mike and kayla, for joining us from corpus christi. good luck tonight, and hopefully you'll be able to weather the storm in peace. >> appreciate it. thank you. >> all right. be well. joining us now is the governor of texas, greg abbott, in austin. governor, thanks for joining us tonight. >> it's my pleasure. thank you. >> let's start with the damage assessments that you're getting at this hour. what are you hearing? >> well, as you can see, as the storm rolls in it's pretty dramatic. we don't have exact numbers right now because the devastation is happening fairly quickly. >> i know you asked president trump to declare a major disaster. what's the worst case scenario that you're looking at? >> well, the president granted that declaration. and what that means is fema has now been triggered to assist texans in our cities and counties to begin the rebuilding process. that will be of tremendous help. >> and yet a fema administrator said today that the window for evacuation has pretty much closed. what advice are you giving to

shelter in place? >> they need to have strategies to make sure they stay as safe as possible. they need to be constantly vigilant about rising water. they need to be prepared to be without power and maybe have inadequate access to food and supplies for a couple of days. >> and you tweeted out a photo earlier from the emergency operations center. what plans do you have laid out for those four days of flooding you that see coming? >> in that operations center we have 30 agents of the state of texas represented to make sure we cover everything from water rescues to keeping roads open to making sure we have adequate health care and supplies going to the people. so we have intricate plans in every potential avenue of the state of texas. >> there was a grim message from the mayor of rockport, texas who was quoted as saying if you're going to stay in your home you better take a sharpie and write your name and social security number on your arm. is it that grim? because then we have the mayor of houston saying, well, perhaps you should not evacuate.

to consider it. do you want to clarify those mixed signals? >> well, sure. rockport got hit very hard tonight. and the people there are facing a tough situation. but the way that it works is that it's up to the local officials whether they be the county judges in texas or the mayors to make the declaration. obviously the mayor of rockport made his declaration. houston is not getting hit with the eye of the storm like rockport is. and the damage there will be different. and at the appropriate time if it is necessary the county judge or the mayor will make the necessary declarations. >> well, good luck to you tonight and in the days ahead, governor. thanks for joining us. >> my pleasure. thank you. and the governor mentions rockport, texas the area hardest hit by tonight's storm as it comes to landfall. and we're joined now by the mayor of rockport. good evening, mayor. >> good evening. >> i understand there are reports

in your city. can you tell us what you're seeing? >> my title is mayor pro tem. my name is pat rios. and we are hearing that there are buildings down. we've got reports we can't exactly confirm because we are unable to get people out on the street. it's a little too dangerous. we're hoping -- we're currently in the eye of the storm. it's a little calm. we've had a couple of crews go out to take a look. we're waiting for them to get back in and report because that storm is going to be back on us really quick. >> right. and we can imagine it's enormously dangerous to go out there and do damage assessments in the middle of the night. >> right. we've had a few reports of people that have been trapped in homes made falling trees and are unable to get out. we've had some calls during the height of the storm but we are not allowing our personnel out. it's too -- >> so how do you commence search and rescue operations? when does that begin? >> well, it depends on the storm. it's not going to be up to

we're going to have hurricane-force winds up to 8:00 p.m. tomorrow night, saturday night. >> well, pat, thanks so much for joining us with your insights and good luck to your community. we're all thinking about you tonight. >> thank you so much. and keep those prayers coming. we're going to need them. >> okay. good night. stay with us. when we come back, because we go back into the heart of the storm and to washington for the president's response to this emergency in texas tonight. afi sure had a lot on my mind. my 30-year marriage... ...my 3-month old business... plus...what if this happened again? i was given warfarin in the hospital, but wondered, was this the best treatment for me? so i made a point to talk to my doctor. he told me about eliquis. eliquis treats dvt and pe blood clots and reduces the risk of them happening again. not only does eliquis treat dvt and pe blood clots.

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welcome back. we're continuing our coverage of hurricane harvey, the life-threatening hurricane. it's just beginning to unleash its damaging power in texas tonight. and we're going to go now to lam lamar, texas where sharon miller is on the phone with us. she says she lost her home tonight, ran out of her house, and is staying with neighbors. sharon, can you hear me? >> yes, ma'am. >> how are you doing tonight? >> well, we're doing better now that we made it through the first half. we're sitting in the eye of the storm right now. but we've evacuated to our neighbor has a railroad container storm shelter inside his barn. so we've evacuated to his storm shelter. >> how did you -- what was the damage like to your home? what happened? >> we had a metal roof, and it peeled all the metal off the roof. so of course then the rain proceeded to start coming through and leaking through the wood, which then causes -- it's a two-story home. but then the sheet rock proceeds to start falling in on the bottom half of the house. the walls did not cave

but it's basically raining in the house now. >> you sound very composed for someone who just lost their home tonight. what's your plan? sharon? i think we lost the phone call tonight. clearly we're going to continue our coverage of hurricane harvey. the category 4 storm that is wreaking havoc on the texas coastline tonight. you should be sure to stay with us throughout the evening and in the morning tune in to "good morning america." we're going to continue our coverage throughout the night. and we thank you for joining us tonight. we'll be right back. healthy... oh! farm-raised chicken! mmm...that's some really good chicken. i don't think i've ever tasted chicken like this. what!? here come the accents. blueberries and pumpkin. wow. that was my favorite bite so far. not even kidding. i mean that was... ...oh! spinach! mmm. that's like three super foods. pretty, uh, well...super. now i got kind of a pumpkin, chicken thing going on... ...whoop! time to wrestle. (avo) new beneful grain free. out with the grain, in with the farm-raised chicken. healthful. flavorful. beneful.

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back now with a final look at the radar and meteorologist kate parker. kate. >> well, this is a long haul. hold on all night. this is not ending. this is just starting. days on end. all weekend. >> all right. well, kate, thanks. we'll continue to keep people updated throughout the night with our coverage of hurricane harvey. stay with us. ha >> you want drama? you want emotion? you want excitement? then you wanna stay right where you are because it's time to play "who wants to be a millionaire." [cheers and applause] [dramatic music] ♪ hey, everybody, welcome to the show. you guys ready to play "millionaire" today?

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