Hurricane Harvey is expected to hit Texas as a Category 3 storm — the likes of which haven’t been seen since 1999’s Hurricane Bret — when it makes landfall late Friday or early Saturday, forecasters say.

The storm strengthened to a hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph, on Thursday afternoon.

The storm’s surge could be life threatening, up to 10 feet, with waves as high as 20 feet above that. Rain is expected to range from 10 to 20 inches, and some areas could receive up to 30 inches. Perilous flash flooding and 115 mph gusts are possible.

“Harvey is expected to landfall around 1 a.m. Saturday, based on the current track,” ABC News meteorologist Melissa Griffin said, adding that more time over water could increase the storm’s strength. “If it had another day or two, it could be a higher category.”

The storm is being compared with not only Hurricane Bret but also the devastating Tropical Storm Allison, which in 2001 punished Houston with 40 inches of rain.

The biggest worry with Hurricane Harvey is that it’s expected to stall over southeast Texas, Griffin said.

“When it does make landfall, it is expected to … not move for several days, which is why we expect the rainfall to be the most devastating,” Griffin said. “Some spots could receive over 30 inches.”

At a press conference Thursday afternoon, Corpus Chisti’s newly elected Mayor Joe McComb told residents not to dismiss Harvey and to heed requests for voluntary evacuations.

“We encourage the residents in low-lying areas as they say, ‘to get out of Dodge,'” the mayor said.

McComb stressed that flooding alone could cut off electricity and water from homes in the area. “Go to a family, friend and get to higher ground,” he said.

He left open the possibility of calling for mandatory evacuations, cautioning against trying to “ride [the storm] out.”

“I’m not going to risk our fire people and police people to risk themselves to get somebody out of the home,” he said. “They got relatives and they got family and we don’t want to put them in harm’s way because someone wanted to stay in their home.”

Meanwhile, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz posted on Facebook, asking his followers to keep “all those in the path of this storm in your thoughts and prayers.”

The lawmaker urged Texans in the storm’s predicted path to “heed warnings from local officials, know your evacuation route and avoid all high-water areas” and not to underestimate Mother Nature.

“This is a serious storm, with strong winds and what forecasters have predicted will potentially be a historic amount of rainfall that will significantly raise the risk of serious and life-threatening flooding,” Cruz said.

On Wednesday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott warned of “severe flooding” and declared a state of disaster for 30 counties along the coastline.

Lt. Craig Cummings of the Texas Department of Public Safety told ABC News that people need to take precautions in case the worst happens.

“The best thing that I tell my own family, but I also tell professionally, is to prepare,” he said, encouraging people to have a physical map on hand.

In neighboring Louisiana, Gov. John Bel Edwards signed a statewide emergency declaration Thursday. Southwest Louisiana could see up to 10 inches of rain from the storm.

The governor added that while plans to evacuate people are ready, “hopefully we don’t have to execute those plans.”

ABC News’ Will Gretsky contributed to this report.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.