Harvey has spun deeper into Texas and unloaded extraordinary amounts of rain after the fearsome hurricane crashed into vulnerable homes and businesses along the coastline in a blow that killed at least two people and injured up to 14.
Throughout the region between Corpus Christi and Houston, many people feared that toll was only the beginning. Authorities did not know the full scope of damage because weather conditions prevented emergency crews from getting into the hardest-hit places.
And they're dreading the destruction that is yet to come from a storm that could linger for days and unload more than a metre of rain on cities, including dangerously flood-prone Houston.
In the island community of Port Aransas officials were unable to fully survey the town because of "massive" damage.
"I can tell you I have a very bad feeling and that's about it," said Mayor Charles Bujan, who had called for a mandatory evacuation.
Some of the worst damage appeared to be in Rockport, a coastal city of about 10,000 that was directly in the storm's path. The mayor said his community took a blow "right on the nose" that left "widespread devastation," including homes, businesses and schools that were heavily damaged. Some structures were destroyed.
Rockport's roads were a mess of toppled power poles. A trailer blocked much of one major intersection. Wood framing from ripped-apart houses was strewn along Route 35 on the town's southern end.
Harvey's relentless wind tore the metal sides off the high school gym and twisted the steel door frame of its auditorium.
"We're still in the very infancy stage of getting this recovery started," said Aransas County spokesman Larry Sinclair.
One person was killed in Aransas County when in a fire at home during the storm, county Judge C.H. "Burt" Mills Jr said. A second person died in flooding in Harris County, where Houston is located.
Mills also said as many as 14 people suffered minor injuries in his county, including slips and falls, scrapes and a broken leg.
About 300,000 customers were without power statewide.
Elsewhere in the storm's immediate aftermath, the Coast Guard had rescued 20 people from boats and barges in distress, said Captain Tony Hahn, commander of the Corpus Christi sector.
The fiercest hurricane to hit the US in more than a decade came ashore late on Friday about 3 48 kilometres northeast of Corpus Christi as a mammoth Category 4 storm with 209 kph winds.
Harvey weakened to a tropical storm by midday Saturday.
By 4 am on Sunday, the National Hurricane Centre said Harvey continued to cause "catastrophic flooding in southeastern Texas."
