'Life-threatening' Tropical Storm Harvey churns toward Texas

MIAMI - 24 August 2017: Tropical Storm Harvey is rapidly gaining strength as it churns toward the southern coast of Texas and is likely to become a hurricane by Friday, US weather officials said.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami on Thursday issued a hurricane warning for the Texas coast from Port Mansfield to Matagorda.

It said "life-threatening" floods were possible from the storm, which is likely to reach land by Friday according to forecasts.

Total rainfall could exceed 25 inches (64 centimeters) in some areas, according to the NHC.

At 1200 GMT, Harvey was about 335 miles, (540 kilometers) southeast of Port Mansfield, Texas advancing toward the coast at around 10 miles per hour.

It had maximum sustained winds of 60 miles per hour and is expected to reach hurricane strength sometime on Friday.