Thanks for the comments about Harvey (hurricane).

I realize that the Hurricane should gain strength as it travels over warmer waters. And indeed - that did happen. In fact it happened remarkably quickly. Harvey was listed as going from a Cat 1 to a Cat 4 storm.

What I don't understand is why towns like Corpus Christi were not absolutely devastated by high winds. Don't get me wrong. I am happy that the towns on the Texas coast were spared this type of destruction. But how can a Cat-4 storm go to a Cat-1 storm in a matter of two or three hours? Something is seriously puzzling about the whole sequence. People in Texas have said ... Harvey is a bad storm. But it's nothing like the power we saw from Hurricane Ike. I think that meteorologists really need to take a look at this whole phenomenon with Harvey (i.e. the reported wind speeds).

Also ... forecasts now say that some parts of Texas may see more than 50 inches of rain. More rain than has ever been seen before. That would make this flooding event a once-in-every-500-years event. Or maybe, once-in-every-thousand-years-event. The highest data point recorded for torrential rain in a one-week period. It's a little puzzling why the towns and cities were 'caught by surprise". Warnings have been given for 2-3 days. You only have to look at the satellite photos of Harvey to realize that something 'big and awful' is bearing down on Texas. Travelers are now trapped at Hobby airport in Houston, eating the restaurant food to survive. The Red Cross Center is now surrounded by flood waters and inaccessible.

There seems to be a big 'lag time" in how authorities responded to this crisis.

LINK ...National Weather Service calls Hurricane Harvey an "unprecedented event"/
http://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/%E2%80%9Cthis-event-is-%E2%80%A6-beyond-anything-experienced%E2%80%9D-the-national-weather-service%E2%80%98s-ominous-warning-on-harvey/ar-AAqNyDf?li=AA4ZnC&ocid=spartandhp

Pete