
Texas is bracing itself for the storm of the decade as Hurricane Harvey barrels towards the state, which is expecting catastrophic flooding, power outages, winds up to 130mph and 30 inches of rain.

Final preparations were being made on Friday morning, as officials emphasized that the situation was 'very serious' and said that the window for evacuation from flood-threatened coastal areas was closing quickly.

The National Weather Service on Friday morning urged that preparations should be 'rushed to completion' adding that 'conditions are expected to deteriorate throughout the day'.

The US National Hurricane Center said Harvey has 'rapidly intensified' and experts say weather conditions have created the perfect recipe for the monster Category 3 hurricane to form and crash into Texas later on Friday.

The national guard has been mobilized amid fears over life-threatening flash flooding, which poses 'a grave risk' to Texans as the hurricane is expected to be the strongest to hit the United States mainland in 12 years since Hurricane Wilma in 2005.

Texas is bracing itself for the storm of the decade as Hurricane Harvey (pictured) can be seen from outer space

Water from Hurricane Harvey's storm surge crashes through pylons at a fishing pier in Port Isabel, Texas on Friday morning

Final Preparations: People rush to buy plywood Friday at Lowes in Corpus Christi, Texas as Hurricane Harvey approaches

The powerful 'perfect' storm is barreling towards the state with expected flooding and up to 30 inches of rain on Friday night

A truck carrying new utility polls is staged for depolyment in preparation of Hurricane Harvey on Friday in Port Isabel, Texas

The national guard has been mobilized amid fears over the life-threatening flash flooding, which poses 'a grave risk'

The hurricane is expected to be the strongest to hit the United States mainland in 12 years since Hurricane Wilma in 2005

Local mayors have warned residents 'to get out of Dodge' as flooded waters could cause alligators to wash up on people's front door steps.

President Donald Trump is standing by and monitoring the hurricane, ready to provide necessary resources to the gulf region, the White House said on Thursday. Trump is asking citizens to plan ahead for the storm.

National Weather Service director Louis Uccellini said meteorologists expect the hurricane to hail down with winds of 130 mph or higher and up to 30 inches of rain, which could lead to major chaos in southeast Texas.

The powerful storm is set to hammer the Texas Gulf Coast with an extremely dangerous combination of 'torrential rainfall, storm-surge flooding and destructive winds this weekend, before taking a strange, meandering path next week', the Weather Channel reported.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott ordered the State Operations Center to elevate its readiness level, making state resources available for possible rescue and recovery actions, in addition to activating 700 members of the Texas Army Guard, Texas Air National Guard and the Texas State Guard.

The national guard has been mobilized amid fears over the life-threatening flash flooding, which poses 'a grave risk' to Texans. Pictured: The projected path of the expected track of the circulation center

Rogelio Ortiz makes his way off the Pirate's Landing Fishing Pier as rain from Hurricane Harvey falls in Port Isabel, Texas

People are panicking as grocery stores are rapidly selling out of water and supplies in Houston (pictured), increasing the frenzy on Thursday night before Hurricane Harvey is expected to hit Texas the following day

The powerful storm is set to hammer the Texas Gulf Coast with an extremely dangerous combination of 'torrential rainfall, storm-surge flooding and destructive winds' this weekend. Pictured: People stocking up on water in Houston

The Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office sent out an alert to residents about potential sightings of alligators due to the storm

Harvey grew quickly Thursday from a tropical depression into a Category 1 hurricane. Fueled by warm Gulf of Mexico waters, it was projected to become a major Category 3 hurricane.

The last storm of that category to hit the U.S. was Hurricane Wilma in October 2005 in Florida.

The storm officially became a Category 2 hurricane as of 1am on Friday morning, on track to strengthen to its expected Category 3 level by Friday night.

At a press conference on Thursday afternoon, Corpus Christi's Mayor Joe McComb told people not to dismiss Harvey and to voluntarily evacuate, saying: 'We encourage the residents in low-lying areas, as they say, to get out of Dodge.'

McComb added: 'Go to a family, friend and get to higher ground.'

The mayor's warning comes on the heels of Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office sending out an alert to residents about potential sightings of alligators due to the storm.

The department tweeted: 'Gators and flooding advice via @txgatorsquad: Expect them to be displaced. Simply looking for higher ground. Leave alone until water recedes.'

Rain started to fall in Port Isabel, Texas, on Thursday night as Hurricane Harvey is expected to hit the region the next day. The storm officially became a Category 2 hurricane as of 1am on Friday morning

Hurricane Harvey is expected to be the strongest to hit the United States mainland in 12 years since Hurricane Wilma in 2005

Residents wait inside the Corpus Christi Natatorium to board a bus to evacuate to San Antonio ahead of Hurricane Harvey on Thursday in Corpus Christi, Texas

Residents fill sand bags as they prepare for Hurricane Harvey in Corpus Christi, Texas. Two counties have ordered mandatory evacuations as Hurricane Harvey gathers strength as it drifts toward the Texas Gulf Coast

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a press briefing on Thursday that Trump is ready to respond with aid to Texas and surrounding areas affected by the hurricane.

She said: 'We have acting secretary Elaine Duke who's watching this closely and very involved in the process along with the acting director for FEMA and again, I think that we are in great shape, having General Kelly sitting next to the president throughout this process.

'There's probably no better chief of staff for the president during the hurricane season, and the president has been briefed and will continue to be updated as the storm progresses.

'And certainly it's something he's very aware of and will keep a very watchful eye on. He stands ready to provide resources if needed.'

The president was previously briefed on the government's hurricane preparations from FEMA disaster relief officials earlier this month, reported The Hill.

Trump said: 'FEMA is something I've been very much involved in already. We've already taken care of many of the situations that really needed emergency funds. We do it quickly, we do it effectively, we have an amazing team.'

On Thursday, Trump released a video of him meeting with FEMA officials on Twitter, asking citizens to plan ahead for Hurricane Harvey and provided links to resources.

HARVEY'S PERFECT STORM RECIPE: WARM WATER, CALM AIR UP HIGH Hurricane Harvey is following the perfect recipe to be a monster storm, meteorologists say. Warm water. Check. Calm air at 40,000 feet high. Check. Slow speed to dump maximum rain. Check. University of Miami senior hurricane researcher Brian McNoldy said Harvey combines the worst attributes of nasty recent Texas storms: The devastating storm surge of Hurricane Ike in 2008; the winds of Category 4 Hurricane Brett in 1999 and days upon days of heavy rain of Tropical Storm Allison in 2001. Rainfall is forecast to be as high as 35 inches through next Wednesday in some areas. Deadly storm surge - the push inwards of abnormally high ocean water above regular tides - could reach 12 feet, the National Hurricane Center warned, calling Harvey life-threatening. Harvey's forecast path is the type that keeps it stronger longer with devastating rain and storm-force wind lasting for several days, not hours. 'It's a very dangerous storm,' National Weather Service Director Louis Uccellini told The Associated Press. 'It does have all the ingredients it needs to intensify. And we're seeing that intensification occur quite rapidly.' WARM WATER Warm water is the fuel for hurricanes. It's where storms get their energy. Water needs to be about 79 degrees (26 Celsius) or higher to sustain a hurricane, McNoldy said. Harvey is over part of the Gulf of Mexico where the water is about 87 degrees or 2 degrees above normal for this time of year, said Jeff Masters, a former hurricane hunter meteorologist and meteorology director of Weather Underground. A crucial factor is something called ocean heat content. It's not just how warm the surface water is but how deep it goes. And Harvey is over an area where warm enough water goes about 330 feet (100 meters) deep, which is a very large amount of heat content, McNoldy said. 'It can sit there and spin and have plenty of warm water to work with,' McNoldy said. WEAK WINDS If winds at 40,000 feet high are strong in the wrong direction it can decapitate a hurricane. Strong winds high up remove the heat and moisture that hurricanes need near their center and also distort the shape. But the wind up there is weak so Harvey 'is free to go nuts basically,' McNoldy said. PERFECT PATH Before it hits the Texas coast, Harvey is projected to go over an even deeper and warmer eddy to supercharge it a bit more, just like what happened to Hurricane Katrina in 2005, but not quite as bad, Masters said. If that's not bad enough, there's a good chance that after Harvey hits it will follow a track so close to the coast and not so much inland that it will essentially keep a toe in the water. The storm could be big enough that not all of it is over land. Because of that, the National Hurricane Center forecasts that it will remain at least tropical storm strength - and 40 mph winds - through Tuesday, maybe into Wednesday. SLOW SPEED Because it looks like Harvey will be meandering at around 10 mph and then will likely stall out over the coast or just a bit inland, that means it will stay over one place and keep raining, Masters said. Day in, day out until the middle of next week. 'We're talking feet of rain, not inches,' Masters said. And the storm's heavy rains can last not just a few hours but 'over a two-, three-, four-day period' from Texas to Louisiana, Uccellini said. Advertisement

As the storm looms, customers are fighting over water as grocery stores are rapidly selling out of supplies, increasing the frenzy before Hurricane Harvey arrives.

Officials have asked residents to evacuate as they prepare for chaotic flooding and power outages but those who are staying in the path of the hurricane rushed to grocery stores in order to stock up on water, food, gas and other supplies on Thursday night.

However, they arrived to find shops with empty shelves, causing people to fight over the last containers of water as some likened the scenes to Black Friday.

People have taken to social media to post pictures of the mad dash as they went to get supplies on Thursday night.

Photos show people waiting in long lines to check out with pallets of water bottles in their carts and cars lined up around blocks to get gas.

One user wrote on Twitter: 'People grabbing cases of water like it's a Black Friday sale. Hurricane Harvey is real.'

Another said: 'I had to drive almost 30 minutes to find a store that has water... This Houston hurricane is no joke man.'

A dismayed woman wrote: 'Bread is gone. Gas is gone. Water is gone. If you don't have it already, you need to befriend your neighbors.'

Shelves were empty, causing people to fight over the last containers of water as some likened the scene to Black Friday. People took to social media to post pictures of the mad dash as they went to get supplies on Thursday night in Houston

Customers enter H-E-B Plus in Corpus Christi, Texas on Thursday to stock up on supplies in advance of Hurricane Harvey

Governor Abbott preemptively declared a state of disaster for 30 counties on or near the coast to speed deployment of state resources to any areas affected.

Trump called Abbott on Thursday night to personally tell him that he was ready to help respond to the strongest hurricane expected to hit the US in more than a decade.

Abbott tweeted out a photo of himself on the phone with Trump and said: 'Spoke with Pres. Trump & heads of Homeland Security & FEMA. They're helping Texas respond to #HurricaneHarvey.'

Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards also received a call from Trump that night, tweeting: 'Spoke w/ @POTUS @realDonaldTrump this afternoon. He offered his full support to the people of LA as we prepare for #Harvey.'

A statement released by Abbott added: 'President Trump called Governor Abbott to offer federal support for the State of Texas as Hurricane Harvey approaches the Gulf Coast.

'The President pledged all available resources from the federal government to assist in preparation, and rescue and recovery efforts.

'The Governor thanked the President for his pledge of support and assured him that the state is working hand-in-hand with local and federal partners on all issues related to the storm.'

President Trump urged citizens to prepare for Hurricane Harvey on Thursday and said he is ready to provide aid. The president called Texas Governor Gregg Abbott (right) later that night to personally inform him of his planned aid

Both the Texas Governor and Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards received calls from Trump on Thursday night

As of 11pm CDT, Hurricane Harvey was located 180 miles southeast of Corpus Christi, Texas

Officials are warning residents to prepare for massive flooding as coastal areas like Corpus Christi and even Houston could experience 'very heavy' rainfall

Officials say the storm will bring strong offshore winds as coastal flooding persists east of Harvey

National Weather Service director Uccellini added that the hurricane was 'a very dangerous storm.' He said it's a 'potentially impactful storm' that will last over several days and produce large rains from Texas into Louisiana.

Uccellini said Harvey is a risk to people with extremely heavy rainfall that causes inland flooding lasting through the middle of next week, a large storm surge and high winds. A storm surge is an abnormal rise of water above the normal tide, generated by a storm.

Uccellini also notes that the storm is intensifying as it approaches land.

Harvey will be the first hurricane to strike Texas since 2008 after Category 2 Hurricane Ike devastated some parts of the state.

'Now is the time to check your emergency plan and take necessary actions to secure your home or business. Deliberate efforts should be underway to protect life and property,' the weather service said in an statement early on Thursday.

Emergency officials asked residents along the upper Texas coastline to move or prepare to move inland.

Those in low-lying areas were urged to seek higher ground, and those elsewhere were told to monitor official announcements closely.

The entire coast of Texas is on either a tropical storm warning or hurricane warning due to this powerful storm

Much of the coast of Texas is under storm surge warning including parts of Port O'Connor and Corpus Christi

Meteorologist Eric Holthaus pleaded with his Twitter followers to spread the word and start preparing for the possible hurricane

The storm is now expected hit the central Texas coast with a combination of winds of 115 miles per hour and heavy rains, said John Tharp, a forecaster with Weather Decision Technologies in Norman, Oklahoma.

'With this system's intensity and slow motion, it is the worst of both worlds,' he said referring to the expected winds and rains. 'There will be major impacts along the coast and inland with periods of prolonged rain.'

Harvey will cause a storm surge that will flood parts of the Texas coast as it makes landfall and linger for days over the state, dumping up to 30 inches of rain on some areas, the NHC said in an advisory on Thursday.

The mayor of Texas coastal city Corpus Christi warned on Wednesday that flooding was his biggest concern.

'I hope people will listen to forecasters when they say 'beware of flash floods,'' Joe McComb said. 'Flash floods can come quickly, and they can be deadly.'

Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi issued a mandatory evacuation to all students who live on campus and canceled events.

Authorities have issued several warnings for residents to prepare for flooding as part of the approaching hurricane

Forecasters say there is a potential upper-level steering pattern this weekend that may stall Harvey for some time near or over the western Gulf Coast

Harvey will be the first hurricane to strike Texas since Hurricane Ike in 2008 and could prove to be deadly

Shrimp crew dock at the Brownsville Shrimp Basin Thursday as Hurricane Harvey approaches the Texas coast

Shoppers pass empty shelves along the bottled water isle in a Houston grocery store as Hurricane Harvey intensifies in the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday

Harvey is forecast to be a major hurricane when it makes landfall along the middle Texas coastline on Friday night

Marie Michel loads a filled water bottled into her shopping cart inside the Kroger store in preparation of Hurricane Harvey on Thursday in Houston

U.S. gasoline prices surged to a three-week high on Thursday as Hurricane Harvey moved across the Gulf of Mexico and threatened to slam oil refineries in Texas when it comes ashore this weekend.

Energy companies including Royal Dutch Shell, Anadarko Petroleum and Exxon Mobil have evacuated staff from offshore oil and gas platforms in the storm's path.

Two oil refineries Corpus Christi were shutting down ahead of the storm, and concern that Harvey could cause shortages in fuel supply drove benchmark gasoline prices to a three-week high.

Prices for gasoline in spot physical markets on the Gulf Coast rose even more, hitting a one-year high.

Profit margins for refineries producing gasoline rose by over 12 percent on Thursday, putting margins on course for their biggest daily percentage gain in six months, according to Reuters data.

A shopper finds empty shelves on the bottled water section inside the Kroger store on in preparation of Hurricane Harvey in Houston

Bryan and Brenda Tumlinson install storm shutters on their store, Island Joes Coffee and Gallery, on North Padre Island in Corpus Christi, Texas, ahead of the hurricane

Marina employees secure the boater's facility at the Corpus Christi Marina in preparation for Hurricane Harvey on Thursday

The two refineries that have shut have combined capacity to refine more than 450,000 barrels per day of crude.

The NHC expects the storm to come ashore along the central Texas coast, an area that includes Corpus Christi and Houston, home to some of the biggest refineries in the country.

More than 45 percent of the country's refining capacity is along the U.S. Gulf Coast, and nearly a fifth of the nation's crude oil is produced offshore in the region.

The storm could also bring flooding to inland shale oil fields in Texas that pump millions of barrels per day of crude.

The U.S. Gulf of Mexico is home to about 17 percent of the nation's crude output and five percent of dry natural gas output, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

A shrimp boat travels along the Port of Brownsville, Texas, ship channel to dock at the Brownsville Shrimp Basin Thursday

Fresh Texas Gulf shrimp is removed from the bottom of a shrimp boat as shrimp crews dock at the Brownsville Shrimp Basin to wait out Hurricane Harvey

Ken Knox secures a friend's boat at the Corpus Christi Marina in preparation for Hurricane Harvey on Thursday

From left, Buddy Cooper and Patrick Gesner, commanding officer of the Salvation Army in Corpus Christi receive supplies of water and clean-up kits in preparation for Hurricane Harvey on Thursday

Bill Tippett, with the Salvation Army disaster department, deliver supplies of water and clean up kits to the Salvation Army in preparation for Hurricane Harvey on Thursday

Other Gulf of Mexico operators said they were watching developments closely but operations were unaffected.

On South Padre Island, people filled sandbags and loaded them into cars and vans to take to protect exposed homes and businesses.

Others in the forecast path of the storm sought out generators, plywood and other goods from hardware stores.

Meanwhile, rice farmers in coastal Matagorda County moved quickly to harvest their crops.

A sign reminds motorists to prepare for Hurricane Harvey on Thursday as highways are expected to see more traffic on Friday

Chris Mathew fills his vehicle and five gas cans at Costco in Pearland, Texas in preparation for the powerful storm approaching

Leo Sermiento (L) and Emilio Gutierrez (R) fill sandbags in preparation of a Hurricane Harvey on Wednesday on South Padre Island, Texas,

Robert Cavanaugh buys plywood at The Home Depot to board up his windows ahead of a Hurricane Harvey on Wednesday in Corpus Christi, Texas

A man stands in font of empty shelves where generators are kept at The Home Depot ahead of a Hurricane Harvey on Wednesday in Corpus Christi, Texas

Texas Governor Greg Abbott ordered the State Operations Center to elevate its readiness level, making state resources available for possible rescue and recovery actions

Rainfall totals of 10 to 15 inches were possible over the middle and upper Texas coast and southwest Louisiana through Tuesday, the Miami-based hurricane center said.

Hurricane, tropical storm and storm surge watches were in effect for counties on the eastern coast of Texas as the storm moved across the Gulf of Mexico, where it may strengthen into a hurricane.

A storm surge watch was in effect for Port Mansfield to High Island, just up the coast from Galveston.

A tropical storm watch was in effect for Boca de Catan, Mexico, just south of the Texas border, to Port Mansfield and from San Luis Pass to High Island.