Hurricane Harvey: Thousands of prisoners evacuated as flood waters rise

The Texas criminal justice department has a command centre set up for the storm

Rain from Hurricane Harvey batters the downtown area on 26 August 2017 in Houston, Texas. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Texas officials have evacuated thousands of inmates from prisons due to flooding from Hurricane Harvey.

Prisons in Brazoria County south of Houston, Texas is in particular danger as nearby Brazos River rises.

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) says about 4,500 inmates from the Ramsey, Terrell, and Stringfellow Units in Rosharon are being taken by bus to other prisons in east Texas. They are being accompanied by additional police officers and prison staff to assist with the evacuation.

Additional food and water has been delivered to the prisons receiving the displaced inmates.

TDCJ has also set up an emergency command center for the storm, which has been and will continue to operate 24 hours a day for the duration of the state of emergency period.

It also said in a statement that former prisoners out on conditional releaase were given instruction to report specified evacuation addresses. "High-risk parolees" were moved to facilities outside of the flood zone as well.

A local news outlet reported that the inmates will not be allowed visits during their time at the new prison but are being allowed to call loved ones.

Hurricane Harvey has made landfall, stalling over the Texas coast and expected to cause "catastrophic and life-threatening flooding".

The National Weather Service's National Hurricane Center also predicted up to 40 inches (102 cm) of rainfall in some areas on the southeast coast.

The hurricane hit Corpus Christi as a Category 4 with winds of up to 130 mph (209 kmh), but it has been downgraded to a Category 1 with sustained winds of 90 mph (145 kmh).

The storm is now centred about 25 miles west of Victoria, Texas.

Despite the downgrade, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) chief Brock Long called it a "deadly inland event" as the storm progressed through the night.

The major damage to schools, public building, and several homes seems to be in and around Rockport, Texas, a community of about 10,000 people just northeast of Corpus Christi.

In the afternoon of 26 August, Texas Governor Greg Abbott added 20 counties to the state's disaster declaration.