Hurricane Harvey slammed into the Texas coast late Friday, unleashing torrents of rain and packing powerful winds, the first major storm to hit the U.S. mainland in 12 years.

The storm made landfall in the small town of Rockport -- near Corpus Christi, a major U.S. oil industry hub. It was packing sustained winds of 215 kilometers per hour, a Category Four hurricane on the five-level storm scale.

A few hours later the storm made a second landfall just north of Rockport as a Category Three hurricane, with winds of 205 kilometers per hour, the National Hurricane Center reported at 6 a.m. GMT Saturday.

Meteorologists warned that tornadoes were possible through Saturday from Texas into Louisiana, which is also expected to take a major hit.

The powerful storm has forced hundreds of thousands to flee their homes and crippled oil production in the Gulf.

Before the storm hit, the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) prepositioned emergency supplies and authorities issued mandatory evacuation orders in many areas.

2005 was a huge year for hurricanes -- before Wilma, Hurricane Katrina pummelled New Orleans, leaving more than 1,800 dead and becoming one of the greatest domestic headaches for then-president George W. Bush.

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