A former Altona resident is about to experience her first hurricane.

Bev and her husband, Travis, are bracing for Hurrican Harvey at their home in Houston, Texas. Photos submitted by Bev Lawson.

Four years ago Bev Lawson moved to Houston, Texas which is about an hour away from Galveston, Texas where Hurricane Harvey is expect to hit late Friday or early Saturday as a Category 3 storm.

"I guess I sort of equate it to when we get big snow storms back home, you know you get the supplies you think you're going to need and just be prepared to not go anywhere for a bit," said Lawson.

She described the feeling around town Friday morning as clouds began to roll in and the drizzle of rain started.

"They've cancelled a lot school, concerts have been cancelled, people are home from work today. The streets are pretty quiet today, everybody's out getting their last-minute groceries but we don't have the normal traffic that we usually do."

The couple has also begun preparations to wait-out the storm and have stacked sandbags around the doors to their home, stocked the refrigerator and ensured the generator is in good working order. Lawson added they've also moved items off the workshop floor and raised them a few feet off the ground to keep them out of danger of overland flooding.

Experts predict Hurricane Harvey will likely stall over the state and deliver around 12 and 18 inches of rain between Friday and Wednesday, leading to what some say will be catastrophic flooding.

"Houston is an interesting city," said Lawson, "What I learned when I moved here is that when it rains we don't get long, slow soakers we get hard, fast heavy rain. Drainage can be an issue."

Grocery shelves in Houston, Texas are getting bare as residents prepare to ride-out Hurricane Harvey.In order to facilitate the flow of water out of their yard and in to the street drainage, Lawson explained she and her husband have removed the bottom portion of their wooden fence gates on either side of the house, cleaned up any leaves that could flow to the street and cause drainage issues, and tucked away all of the patio furniture, plants, etc.

Motorists are being encouraged to stay home and keep off the roads in case of flash flooding.

Meantime, Lawson added that her husband's parents live on the coast at Port Lavaca (Matagorda Bay), where the rain and wind started Friday. She explained that they closed everything up and evacuated up to Bastrop (just east of Austin) to get out of the storm's reach.

"We are praying that their home, built up on stilts and well-equipped to withstand storms, will be high and dry when they return."

She is asking everyone back home in Manitoba to pray for the hurricane to diminish before it makes landfall and for the people that are directly in its path and of overland flooding.