Surfside Beach evacuated, storm winds and rain increase

SURFSIDE BEACH, Texas (FOX 26) - "We are leaving," says Melissa Hall as she and her family packed up and drove out of Surfside Beach on Friday afternoon. They were not the only ones leaving town. The entire city is the subject of a mandatory evacuation as a result of Hurricane Harvey.

"My parents live here on the island, same place i grew up in," says Traci Taylor. "We live in Jones Creek, so we were out here checking on things, then we are going back to Jones Creek and we are going to ride it out."

"The mandatory evacuation is along the Gulf side of the Intracoastal that would include Surfside, Treasure Island, Quintana, all of those areas along the coast are mandatory evacuation," says Brazoria County public information officer Sharon Trower.

The conditions in the area changed quite a bit since Thursday.

"Yesterday, it was kind of calm and easy but today, yesterday it was blue skies, but now you can't even see the jetties or nothing," says James Hogan.

Heavy winds, dense rains and flooding over barricaded roads are what can be seen with some saying the storm surge in the area could reach 6-to-10 feet.

"We are worried about storm surge, we are worried about heavy rainfall and we just want our residents to be prepared," says Trower.