Fueled by warm Gulf of Mexico waters, Harvey grew rapidly, accelerating from a Category 1 early in the morning to a Category 4 by evening. Its transformation from an unnamed storm to a life-threatening behemoth took only 56 hours, an incredibly fast intensification.

"We're just going to make sure we stay in the center of the house, away from the windows, and that's really it," MacDonald said. "I mean, we live in a brick house, so we're not worried about the house. Just more worried about debris striking the windows."

Landfall was predicted for late Friday or early Saturday near Rockport, a fishing-and-tourist town about 30 miles northeast of Corpus Christi.

"We have a lot of water and food prepared initially before the hurricane warning came down. We have some supplies ready to go in case we have to move and we can't come back for a few days," he said.

HOUSTON, TEXAS (HAWAIINEWSNOW) - Former Hawaii residents now living in Texas are hunkering down for a long weekend as Hurricane Harvey bears down on the state.

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Sam Konishi, a former resident of Hilo who now lives in Corpus Christi with his wife and their two dogs, are also hunkering down.

"The rain is probably what we're most concerned with," said John MacDonald, adding that as of Friday afternoon they'd already seen gusts up to 85 mph.

Tens of thousands of people in the Texas Gulf Coast have evacuated ahead of the monster storm, which Texas Gov. Greg Abbott warned would be "a very major disaster."

Hurricane Harvey is expected to make landfall as a Category 4 hurricane, packing winds of 130 mph along with a 12-foot storm surge.