Gov. Greg Abbott ordered more than 2,000 members of the Texas Military Department's Army National Guard, Air National Guard and Texas State Guard to assist in recovery efforts following Hurricane Harvey.

Soldiers and Airmen are currently providing support to flooding regions of Houston and the Texas Gulf Coast.

Guardsmen are assisting in search and rescue operations, swift water rescues and evacuations of flooding areas.

Members of the Texas State Guard are mobilized to provide local shelter operations and provide a tracking system that helps evacuees locate loved ones checking into shelters.

Additional Guardsmen are on standby and will join operations as requested by the Texas Department of Emergency Management.

Hurricane Harvey is the first hurricane to make a direct landfall on the Texas coast since 2008. </s> AUSTIN - President Donald Trump and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) have granted Texas Governor Greg Abbott's request for a presidential disaster declaration due to Hurricane Harvey making landfall in Texas.

President Trump made the announcement on Twitter on Friday evening.

The declaration will provide help from the federal government to victims of the storm in Texas.

"I want to thank the President and FEMA for their quick response in granting this disaster declaration," Gov. Abbott said in a statement. "We will continue to work with our federal and local partners on all issues relating to this storm, and I encourage Texans to continue heeding all warnings from local officials." </s> This storm is not a joke. Don’t try to wait it out.

Gov. Greg Abbott asked President Trump on Friday for a presidential disaster declaration in advance of Hurricane Harvey’s landfall, which would allow federal monies to flow to the areas heavily damaged by the storm.

“This is going to be a major disaster,” Abbott said after a briefing from emergency officials at the Texas Department of Public Safety. “My goal is to make it through this storm in a way that we lose no lives.”

During a news conference about final preparations, Abbott called upon residents along coastal Texas to strongly consider leaving — even if they are not in an area with mandatory evacuations.

“You need to strongly consider evacuating,” Abbott told reporters. “There will be a tremendous amount of rain dropped upon miles and miles of Texas.”

Abbott spent much of the morning on a conference call with emergency officials from local jurisdications from across the coastal region, who briefed him on their readiness. </s> HOUSTON — Gov. Greg Abbott activated the entire Texas National Guard in response to Harvey, bringing the total number of deployed guardsmen to roughly 12,000, he said Monday.

Previously, he had mobilized about 4,000 troops.

Swollen rivers in east Texas aren’t expected to crest until later this week, but federal officials are already predicting tropical storm Harvey will drive 30,000 people into shelters and spur 450,000 victims to seek some sort of disaster assistance.

And yet, forecasters say, more rain is coming. Lots more.

RELATED: How to help Hurricane Harvey victims

Several locations have already received 2 feet or more of rain, and forecasters say a reprieve won’t arrive till week’s end at the earliest.

By then, rain totals could reach another 2 feet — with isolated instances of 40 to 50 more inches — along the upper Texas coast.

“This is a landmark event for Texas,” FEMA administrator Brock Long said. “Texas has never seen an event like this.”

But, Long warned, Harvey presents a dynamic situation, and “every number we put out right now is going to change in 30 minutes.”

Harvey will likely surpass 2008’s Hurricane Ike and 2001’s tropical storm Allison, two of the most destructive storms to hit the Gulf Coast in recent memory, he said.

Around 13 million people from Corpus Christi to New Orleans were under flood watches and warnings as of Monday morning as Harvey’s storm bands repeatedly pummel the same areas.

For state and federal officials working to mitigate Harvey’s devastation, one of the more frustrating aspects of the storm is uncertainty.

“The word catastrophic does not appropriately describe what we’re facing,” said U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas. “We just don’t know when it’s going to end.”

Early Monday, Harvey was just barely clinging to tropical storm status, but the danger is far from over.

The storm is forecast to head southeast toward the Matagorda Bay and the Gulf of Mexico where it will pick up additional moisture before sliding back over Galveston and Houston, cities it’s already hammered.

Even when the rain is gone, dangers will persist, said National Weather Service Director Louis Uccellini, because “the flooding will be very slow to recede.” </s> Texas Governor Greg Abbott is giving an update to the amount of devastation that Texas is facing in the wake of Harvey. The hurricane made landfall in Texas as category 4 storm and brought devastating winds and torrential rain. The storm has weakened but continues to dump catastrophic amounts of rain on the Houston area. More than 20 inches have fallen in most areas with high rising waters and bayous are overflowing or rising.

The need for rescues and help has had 911 lines overflowing with caller traffic. Officials are reminding people to only use 911 for life threatening situations. Call 311 in Houston for other information and problems. Crews are mobilizing at Tully Stadium to try and make rescue runs and other states will be lending supplies and staff to help Texans.

Governor Abbott says he has spoken to FEMA Administrator Brock Long, acting DHS Sec. Elaine Duke on coordinated response.

Governor Abbott Requests The Addition Of Counties To Presidential Disaster Declaration

Governor Abbott requested that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) add 12 Texas counties to the Presidential Disaster Declaration granted last week. The original request, which was quickly granted by FEMA, will provide Individual Assistance, Public Assistance and Hazard Mitigation to Texas counties affected by the storm. Governor Abbott requested that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) add 12 Texas counties to the Presidential Disaster Declaration granted last week. The original request, which was quickly granted by FEMA, will provide Individual Assistance, Public Assistance and Hazard Mitigation to Texas counties affected by the storm.

The Presidential Disaster Declaration previously included Bee, Goliad, Kleberg, Nueces, San Patricio, and Refugio counties. In addition to this request, the Governor has already issued a state disaster declaration for 50 Texas counties in response to the storm. </s> HOUSTON (CBSNews) — Aircrews with the U.S. Coast Guard rescued 17 residents in distress Saturday (Aug. 26), as Harvey caused widespread destruction in southern parts of the state.

Two helicopters aircrews were dispatched to help ships near Port Aransas, Texas, earlier Saturday after receiving distress calls.

They rescued seven people from a tugboat near Aransas Pass, four people from the vessel Signet Enterprise and four others aboard the vessel Sandy Point.

“This was a great effort between our Coast Guard aircrews and Signet Constellation’s crew in very dangerous conditions,” Capt. Tony Hahn, commander of Sector Corpus Christi, said in a statement.

Video shot by the Coast Guard showed rescuers pulling people in life jackets from the water near the Signet Enterprise as it took on water and appeared to be sinking.

Harvey was the most powerful storm to hit the U.S. in over a decade, and the most powerful storm to hit Texas since 1961. The storm made landfall late Friday (Aug. 25) night as a Category 4 storm, with sustained winds of 130 mph that whipped coastal communities overnight. Winds slowed throughout Saturday as Harvey was downgraded to a Category 1 storm and then to a tropical storm.

Two others were rescued in Houston after a Coast Guard crew spotted and hoisted a man, woman and their dog to safety around 12:30 p.m. ET on Saturday. The residents were sent to a hospital in Corpus Christi where they were reportedly in good condition. </s> President Trump said Sunday he would visit hurricane-hit Texas as soon as it was possible to do so without interfering with rescue efforts.

The state’s Republican governor, Greg Abbott, praised the response of federal authorities to the deadly storm, saying Texas was getting “absolutely everything we need” from the White House.

Hurricane Harvey made landfall Friday night and has since been downgraded to a tropical storm. It is blamed for at least two deaths, more than a dozen injuries, and widespread heavy flooding that has struck major cities such as Houston and Corpus Christi.

“We could not be more appreciative of what the federal government has done, from the president on down,” Abbott said on ABC’s “This Week.”

Appearing on the same program, Tom Bossert, the White House homeland security advisor, said the president’s travel would be planned so as not to interfere with lifesaving activity.

“The president wants to go to show his support,” Bossert said. “He doesn’t want to go to get in the way, and he’s been very clear about that.” </s> Thousands are boarding up their homes and business and fleeing Texas ahead of Hurricane Harvey.

The monster storm has been upgraded to a Category 3 hurricane with 130mph winds, hours before it is due to slam into the Gulf of Mexico.

The National Weather Service was forced to add an extra colour to its rainfall chart, with up to 40 inches expected in some areas and a 12ft storm surge.

Experts have warned of "catastrophic" flooding as the Governor of Texas Greg Abbott urged people to evacuate.

"My urgent message to my fellow Texans is that if you live in a region where evacuation has been ordered, you need to heed that advice and get out of harm's way while you can," said Mr Abbott.

He added that Harvey is "turning into a very complex and dangerous hurricane" and that Texas faces "a very major disaster".

The storm, which has an eye around 28 miles wide, will be the first Category 3 strength hurricane to make landfall on US soil since 2005.

It is expected to hit the Gulf of Mexico coastline near the town of Corpus Christi late on Friday, before moving down into Louisiana.

There are question marks over the preparedness of cities in both states to deal with major flooding.

Houston, Dallas and San Antonio have expanded rapidly in the past decade, leading to increasing amounts of concrete which reduces drainage.

In New Orleans, recent storms revealed that the city's drainage pump system wasn't working properly.

Officials are now considering a full evacuation if major storm rainfall is predicted.

It is almost 12 years exactly since Hurricane Katrina, the costly natural disaster in US history, left at least 1,245 people dead.

If the meteorological predictions are worrying, the lack of preparation from the Trump administration is terrifying.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the most important body during a weather disaster, lost its director in January.

Like many key positions, it went unfilled for months after Donald Trump came into power.

Brock Long was only appointed at the end of June, well into hurricane season, and has already alarmed some by suggesting that states should pay more towards disaster relief and get less federal funding.

There is currently no head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the agency in charge of the National Hurricane Center.

In any case, Trump has already proposed drastic cuts to both agencies as part of his 'war on science'.

Ironically, the US President's message via Twitter was to "Plan ahead"

Meanwhile, the National Weather Service tweeted a warning: "Harvey is expected to be a major hurricane at landfall, bringing life-threatening storm surge, rainfall and wind hazards to portion of the Texas coast.

"Preparations to protect life and property should completed by tonight, as topical-storm force winds will first arrive in the hurricane and storm surge warning areas on Friday."

John Bel Edwards, the Governor of Louisiana, declared a state of emergency for the entire state on Thursday afternoon.

"All arms of the state’s emergency preparedness and response apparatus are planning for the serious threat posed by Hurricane Harvey, and we are calling on all Louisianans throughout the state to do so as well," said Gov. Edwards.

"I will continue to direct all of the necessary resources to preparing for the worst as we all pray for the best, but rest assured, state and local officials are working around the clock to monitor and respond to this potentially dangerous situation." </s> LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Friday signed a disaster proclamation for the state of Texas as Hurricane Harvey began to move onto the coast.

Trump said on Twitter that he had signed the declaration at the request of Texas Governor Greg Abbott, adding that doing so "unleashes the full force of government help."
The entire Texas National Guard is activated by Texas Governor Greg Abbott for search and rescue operations, as weather forecasters stated that Harvey would move back over the Gulf of Mexico and restrengthen.