b'The National Hurricane Centers 3:00 a.m. advisoryday night, August 24th, about the time the NOAA satel-on Sunday, August 20th, was titled Remnants of Har- lite photo at the opening of this story was taken, Harvey vey, and officially stated that the storm had dissipated,was a large, kind of fluffy, Category One hurricane with requestedthreehourlyreportsfromshippinginterests85 m.p.h. sustained winds, 250 miles southeast of Cor-within 300 miles, and stated that it was the final advisorypus Christi and, based on its trajectory at the time, headed on the system unless regeneration occurred. straighttowardthecityscenter.basicallyintoNorth And it did. Padre Island, then Flour Bluff, then more or less directly Theloosely-definedtropicalsystemmeanderedup SPID and into downtown, if it maintained its current over Mexicos Yucatan Peninsula from Sunday throughcourse.Tuesday, during which the NHC didnt bother to issueIt did not, and neither did Harvey remain a fluffy any update or advisory at all on Harvey, having declaredCat 1 storm. In fact, as it approached the Coastal Bend it a dissipated non-threat. That was until 10:00 a.m. onover the course of the day on Friday, Harvey spun faster Wednesday the 23rd, when they stated, in a distinctly seri- and tighter, and while it reduced in size dramatically, it ous and semi-panicked manner, Harvey regenerates intojust as dramatically increased in strength and severity. At a tropical depression, followed by several hundred wordsthe same time, it took on a northerly angle that directed it of advisories for all imaginable interests on the Mexicoaway from the center of Corpus Christi to the northern end and Texas coastlines, and a set of forecast possibilitiesof Mustang Island, to Port Aransas, and so close that the including some that were highly accurate and others thatsouthwestern eye wall was visible offshore from the south were highly underestimated. The statement predicted thatjetty, as it headed to the uninhabited, private St. Josephs Harvey could strengthen into a hurricane by Friday, wouldIsland on the north side of the ship channel.make landfall late Friday evening, and could bring up toOverHarveystotallifespan,fromitsbirthasa twenty inches of rain along the Texas and Louisiana coasts.tropical wave off the African coast on August 13th, and By Wednesday night wethroughout its 3,000-mile trek were thinking Cat 1 or Cat 2acrosstheWesternHemi-at most and some rain but noOver Harveys.3,000- sphere, through the Caribbean, big deal, said one Port Aran- acrossMexico,intothegulf sas business owner who didntmile trek across theand northward to Texas, its top start boarding up his businessWestern Hemisphere.itsmeasured wind gust was 132 untilFridayafternoon,whenm.p.h.,with110m.p.h.sus-the expected rainmaker turnedtop measured wind gusttained winds, as it made land-into an epic threat that couldfall at Port Aransas the night of impact life in the Coastal Bendwas 132 mph.as it madeFriday, August25th.Copano for months or years to come.landfall at Port Aransas. Village saw 125 m.p.h. gusts, We were still at it at damnedLamar 110 m.p.h. and Rock-near midnight Friday night, inport108m.p.hThediffer-the middle of the storm, then we had to get out, he recalls.ence where Port A was concerned was the combination of The National Hurricane Center declared Harvey allmaximum winds at landfall, with maximum storm surge but dead on Sunday morning, ignored the storm for threedirectly off the Gulf of Mexicoas opposed to communi-days as it inched its way into the Bay of Campeche andties protected by our barrier islands, Mustang Island is a the warm August waters of the Gulfstream, then began tobarrier island.frantically warn the public of Harveys potential threat toHurricane Harvey was the ultimate test in compla-the Texas coast on Wednesday the 23rd, 56 hours beforecency for weather forecasters and hurricane hunters from its epic landfall at St. Jos Island. Complacency at thethe National Weather Service, which is still the one and NHC where Harvey was concerned flowed downstream toonly portal of information and advice for the public deal-local media, forecasters and the public. ing with a looming natural disaster. After the first Tropical In full fairness to the NHC and storm forecasters atStorm Harvey weakened as it entered the Caribbean on large, Harvey was a once-in-a-generation meteorologicalSaturday, and then drifted toward the Yucatan Peninsula challenge thatyesthey more or less failed. Instinctas a poorly organized tropical wave, should it have been would tell most experienced South Texans that the biggestdeclared dissipated and basically ignored until it was two threats are those storms that brush across the top of thehundred miles into the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday? Yucatan and move into the western Gulf of Mexico. Carla,Considering that the U.S. Air Force Hurricane Hunter air-Allen (one of the most powerful storms ever that spentcrew could not make out a center or circulation, this may the most days as a Cat 5), and Beulah, all went throughcertainly have been a fair call. But when almost any old the Yucatan Peninsula on their way to the Coastal Bend.timer in the Coastal Bend can recognize the threat of a But Harvey was different. It meandered. It hung around instorm system moving into the Bay of Campeche in Au-Mexico for a long weekend, had a couple margaritas, tookgust, should Harvey not have caught the eye of the Na-in the sunset, then split north into the Bay of Campechetional Hurricane Center before Wednesday when it was in and reorganized. But even as late as 10:00 p.m. Thurs- the middle of the western Gulf of Mexico?TheCooasastalBend.c THE COASTAL BEND MATHE CGAOZINEASTAL BEND MAFEATURED: The StGAZINEories that MattJanuary/February 2018ered 43TheC talBend.comom 33'