Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Brock Long urged people in the path of the storm to heed warnings and to take evacuation orders seriously.
\"This may be the first major landfall hurricane we've had since 2005,\" Long said in an interview on \"Good Morning America\" Friday. \"So there's going to be damage.\"
As of Friday morning, FEMA had amassed more than 96,000 liters of water, 306,000 meals and 4,500 tarps at incident support bases in Seguin and Fort Worth, Texas, as well as in Camp Beauregard, Louisiana, should the states need them.
Storm preparations have extended to New Orleans, where FEMA said it's working to make sure the Louisiana city's pumps are functioning in anticipation of the seven to 10 inches of rainfall expected there. The National Guard is also readying 500,000 sandbags, FEMA said.
More than 120,000 people have lost power in the Corpus Christi area as a result of Hurricane Harvey so far.
How officials are responding
Politicians and officials have taken a proactive approach to the storm.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Thursday night that he had discussed storm preparation with President Donald Trump, as well as with the heads of FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security. On Friday, Abbott sent a letter to Trump requesting a presidential disaster declaration in anticipation of Hurricane Harvey.
“Granting this request will provide Texans the additional resources needed to protect themselves, their property and rebuild their lives if necessary after Hurricane Harvey,” Abbott said in a statement.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said at the press briefing Friday afternoon that Trump is planning to visit Texas \"early next week.\"
Many state and local officials have urged residents to pay attention to evacuation orders, as it will be too late to leave once the storm hits.
Trump announced on Twitter late Friday that he had approved Abbott's request for a disaster declaration in Texas, formally making federal funds and resources available to assist state recovery efforts.
Texas' hurricane history
The storm is already being compared to Hurricane Bret, which hit Texas on Aug. 22, 1999. That storm made landfall in Kenedy County, just south of Corpus Christi, according to the National Weather Service -- a path that was similar to the one forecast for Hurricane Harvey.
Photos: Slideshow: Worst hurricanes in US history
Here's a timeline of some of the recent hurricanes to hit Texas and the damage they caused:
Hurricane Bret (Aug. 22, 1999): The Category 3 storm made landfall on a Sunday evening about 60 miles south of Corpus Christi. Luckily, the area is sparsely populated compared to Corpus Christi, and so problems were limited. Central Kenedy County received more than 15 inches of rain over two days, according to the NWS. The storm did about $88 million in damages in 2017 figures. Four Americans died in the storm.
Hurricane Claudette (July 15, 2003): While Claudette came ashore as only a Category 1 storm with maximum winds of 90 miles per hour, it did extensive damage after coming ashore at Port O'Connor, about 100 miles northeast of Corpus Christi, and moving inland across Calhoun County, according to the NWS. Two people were killed.
Hurricane Rita (Sept. 24, 2005): The last Category 3 storm to make landfall in Texas was Rita, though it did so much farther north than Harvey is expected to land. Rita, which hit just three weeks after Hurricane Katrina, made landfall right along the Texas-Louisiana border with sustained winds of 120 miles per hour. The town of Center, Texas -- near Nacogdoches -- received 10.48 inches of rain in the storm, but it moved quickly through the area, limiting rainfall accumulation. Still, 59 people from Texas were killed in the storm, according to the NWS, and a number of others died in a bus accident during evacuations.
Hurricane Ike (Sept. 13, 2008): Ike, the last hurricane to make landfall in Texas, hit near Galveston as a Category 2 storm after decimating areas of the Caribbean in the week prior with winds as high as 145 miles per hour. By the time it hit Galveston, winds were at a sustained maximum of 110 miles per hour, according to the NWS. The massive size of Ike resulted in substantial rainfall totals for the area. The highest total was 18.9 inches near Spring Creek, south of Houston, according to the NWS. Some sensors measuring storm surge actually failed due to salt water, according to a NOAA report, but the highest total was 17.5 feet in Chambers County.
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/US/hurricane-harvey-11-gty-jc-170825_4x3t_384.jpg\")
Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images
PHOTO: Strong winds batter a house on Padre Island before the approaching Hurricane Harvey in Corpus Christi, Texas on Aug. 25, 2017.
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/US/harvey-ht-1-er-170825_4x3t_384.jpg\")
Courtney Sacco/Caller-Times via USA TODAY NETWORK
PHOTO: Outside of the CHRISTUS Spohn Hospital in Corpus Christi, Texas, Aug. 25, 2017, as Hurricane Harvey moves towards the Texas coast.
