Trump declares national disaster as Hurricane Harvey makes landfall in Texas

GALVESTON, Texas _ Hurricane Harvey has become the first major hurricane in 12 years to hit the mainland United States, coming ashore Friday night in Texas as a Category 4 storm with 130-mph winds and threatening millions of people along the Gulf Coast with catastrophic flooding and torrential rains.

As the storm's center neared landfall close to Corpus Christi, President Donald Trump announced on Twitter that he had granted Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's request for a disaster declaration, "which unleashes the full force of government help!"

Abbott warned that the storm is a "very complex and dangerous" hurricane that could bring devastating flooding along the middle Texas coast as Harvey is expected to dump more than 2 feet of rain over parts of the region.

"It's a hurricane that's going to prove more dangerous than many hurricanes," Abbott said. "We are going to be dealing with immense, really record-setting flooding in multiple regions across the state of Texas."

A hurricane warning is in effect along a wide stretch of the coastline from Port Mansfield to Sargent, spanning a region home to about 4 million people. An additional