With winds of 105 mph early today, Hurricane Harvey could be the most powerful storm to hit the United States since 2005, bringing 15 to 25 inches of rain to the Texas coast and up to 15 inches of rain to central Louisiana, said the National Weather Service, as growers scurried to harvest cotton and rice ahead of the storm.
Landfall in southeast Texas was expected late on Friday. “It will drop substantial amounts of rain over portions of eastern Texas and Louisiana,” said MDA Weather Services, which forecasts the storm will linger over land through the weekend. “Massive rainfall amounts along the Coastal Bend [of Texas] will likely cause significant damage to crops, especially cotton,” said MDA senior agricultural meteorologist Don Keeney. “Once the storm moves into the Delta, some heavy rains and localized flooding will occur, although impacts there will not be as significant as in Texas.”
World Weather said “there may be more damage done to agricultural buildings and fields due to flooding than to any remaining crops” because of rapid harvesting. “Some of the remaining cotton, corn, sorghum, and rice will be vulnerable to damage, and some loss should be expected.”
Texas is the No. 1 cotton state, but most of the crop is grown far from the Gulf of Mexico. The state produces about 10 percent of U.S. rice.