Hurricane Harvey

In the last few months, both hurricanes Harvey and Irma have hit the Southern coast of the U.S and many islands of the Caribbean. Now, as this article is being written, a third hurricane, Maria, has made landfall in the Caribbean, already devastating many Isles.

All of these hurricanes have already prompted talk about multiple subjects, from recovery costs to climate change. However, what are the facts of these disasters?

Let’s start with the first question: who and what has been effected? The first hurricane of this season was Hurricane Harvey. Harvey formed in the South-East Caribbean. It then moved West, bypassing many of the Caribbean islands. An edge of Harvey landed in the Yucatan Peninsula, located in the Mexican state of Yucatan, however excessive damage was not reported. It was in the Gulf of Mexico that Harvey began to grow in strength. On August 25, Harvey was upgraded to a category 3 hurricane as it accelerated towards the Texas coast. On August 26, Harvey made landfall in the Texan city of Rockport, with measured winds at 133 miles per hour. Harvey was the strongest hurricane to hit Texas since Hurricane Carla, in 1996 whose winds measured to 175 miles per hour. Harvey then made a second landfall further up the Texas coast, however it had been downgraded to a category 2 hurricane. Harvey was weakened further and as the day closed out, it was downgraded to a tropical storm. However, it still wreaked havoc. The storm hovered over Texas for the second day, dumping large amounts of rain as high as 42 inches on the Northern Gulf coast. It then moved East across Louisiana before moving upwards as a normal storm. Flooding occurred in many cities, most notably Houston, which is the fourth most populated city in the U.S, with 2.3 million residents.

The aftermath of this storm is immense. Currently, the entire Texas National Guard, consisting of 12,000 soldiers, have been deployed to help, along with additional guard deployments from states such as California, Arizona, and New Mexico. More than 32,000 people are displaced in shelters across the state and more than 210,000 people registered for FEMA disaster assistance.

The economic impact of Harvey is expected to be immense. Estimates by multiple agencies put the cost of the hurricane in the hundreds of billions, some saying that the damage will cost even more the the 2005 Hurricane Katrina, which resulted in a cost around $120 billion.

However, there is still hope. More than $72 million have been raised for disaster relief from multiple charities, corporations, and celebrities. The Army Corps of Engineers has been deployed to help with the flooding affected cities like Houston and New Orleans. While the cost may exponentially grow, the people of Texas and people around the U.S have come together to help people in need.