Hurricane Harvey is the first major hurricane of the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season. Harvey strengthened to a Category 4 reaching landfall along the Texas coast on Friday, August 25, at peak intensity. By the next day, the storm weakened to a tropical storm bringing torrential rainfall to the region.

Before Harvey reached landfall, Coast Survey headquarters and field units were planning and positioning assets in strategic locations in proximity to the Texas coastline. Two navigation response teams—small vessels with three-person crews—were deployed and awaiting tasking for survey work prioritized by the U.S. Coast Guard, in coordination with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ports, terminal operators, state officials, and local emergency responders. The western Gulf Coast navigation manager, Alan Bunn, was positioned at the Houston/Galveston Incident Command Center (ICC), to coordinate response efforts. The eastern Gulf Coast navigation manager, Tim Osborn, traveled from Lafayette, LA, and was positioned at…