Hurricane Harvey

Astronauts at the International Space Station captured stunning footage of Hurricane Harvey moving toward Texas, and it looks terrifying.

[Screencap from YouTube, care of NASA.]
I desperately hope that the effects of the hurricane are not as bad as is being predicted and expected.

Harvey is now centered 135 miles southeast of Corpus Christie, according to a recent update from the National Hurricane Center. While it isn't predicted to make landfall until later tonight or early tomorrow morning, tropical storm conditions are expected to reach residents of the middle and upper Texas coast by later this morning. Harvey is expected to be a major (Category 3+) hurricane at landfall, which would make it the first major hurricane landfall in the US since Hurricane Wilma in 2005.

A prolific fifteen to 25 inches of rain is predicted top drop up and down the cost, with isolated accumulation totals of up to 35 inches. The NHC warns of "life-threatening" coastal inundation from the storm surge, and urges residents to complete preparations to protect themselves and their property this morning. Widespread evacuation orders were issued along Texas's Gulf Coast yesterday.

As if the threat to coastal residents wasn't bad enough, Hurricane Harvey's track could also bring it perilously close to the enormous petroleum refineries encircling Galveston Bay. As Emily Atkin writes in the New Republic, Harvey has the potential to become a major pollution disaster.

The National Weather Service continues to issue serious warnings to residents in the area: "As Friday morning progressed, the National Weather Service said the coast only had a handful hours remaining to prepare for the storm, which began to strengthen. ...The weather service's latest warning at 7 a.m. warned residents near Victoria that 'now is the time to urgently high from the wind' and that properties remain subject to devastating to catastrophic winds."

Everyone should be on board with prioritizing everyone's safety, but of course the Border Patrol is going to make this situation as difficult as possible for undocumented people living in Texas.

Border Patrol keeping checkpoints open during #HurricaneHarvey. https://t.co/PG3kDhskvr Meanwhile, dozens of colonias are in path of storm. pic.twitter.com/cRIEWjvX09

— Teddy Wilson (@reportbywilson) August 25, 2017

Christ almighty. Undocumented Texans won't be able to get north of storm w/out threat of detention. https://t.co/50STCV9p46

— andrea grimes (@andreagrimes) August 25, 2017

Just despicable.

Be as safe as you can, friends in the path of the storm. Please feel welcome and encouraged to use this thread to share resources and information.