Just a quick post about the storm. Obviously unless you've been living under a rock recently you've heard how devastating this storm has been, so I'm gonna try not to ramble on.
First it made landfall in the Corpus Christi, Texas, area as a major category 4 hurricane. It was the strongest (in terms of wind speeds) to hit the U.S. since Hurricane Charley in 2004. So stronger then Katrina, Ike, Irene, Sandy, ect. Small costal towns like Rockport and Port Aransas have been FLATTENED, many many buildings and homes we're completely destroyed. Thankfully the death toll in these areas were minimal as most of the residents had evacuated, but still a long road ahead of them.
Then, after making landfall, Harvey stalled over Texas, dumping torrential rain over the Greater Houston, TX area. In almost the entire city, places received over 50'' inches of rain over the course of the past few days, with the worst coming on saturday night, with in my area, 20 inches of rain in a 12 hour span, including one point where the rain was so heavy the rate was 10 INCHES AN HOUR. Basically, it rained nonstop from Saturday-Tuesday.
So obviously, as a result, every bayou, creek, river, ditch, pond, reservoir, ect overflowed and flooded many many homes and businesses. This, along with the rainfall, flooded hundreds of thousands of homes in the houston area, with tens of thousands of them completely destroyed. In many instances, the water level was so high, people had to go into their attics, and then break onto their roofs as water continued to rise as they awaited rescue. The pic attached is some of the homes near the creek by my house, as an example of the damage
Also, every highway in the city was flooded, which meant the entire city was paralyzed (unless you had a boat) for several days. The damage has just been torrential. On top of that, Harvey's storms caused numerous tornadoes throughout the area that have caused much damage. Just take a quick twitter or google or news search to see photos of devastation all over texas.
Now that the rain has finally stopped, the long road of recovery begins. The death toll right now is ~30, but that number is expected to rise soon once the receding flood water reveals people who drowned in their cars and trapped in their home :( Harvey broke the record for the tropical cyclone dumping the most rainfall along its course. The damages haven't been calculated yet, but it will be one of the costliest, if not the most (even more costly then Katrina) costliest US Hurricanes. Also this was definitely the worst natural disaster in Texas since the 1900 Galveston Hurricane.
As a Meteorology student, I'm always thinking of the weather and enjoy cool weather phenomenon. However, this was just a nightmare. I still can't believe how historic, devasasting, and tragic this storm ended up being. It will take weeks, months, and in some cases, years to recover. However, as a proud TEXAN and HOUSTONIAN I am confident we will come together and rebuild. The past week I have seen countless images, stories, etc of stranger helping stranger, neighbor helping neighbor, and most of all, Texan helping Texan. That's one thing about Texas, during times of tragedy we can put aside our differences, politcal, culture, or whatever, and come together and help each other in times of need. Its makes me so fucking proud.
So obviously, Houston and the Texas gulf coast needs help right now. If anyone is considering making a donating, please let me know and I can refer you to a reputable charity. DO NOT DONATE TO THE RED CROSS!!! They have a horrible history of mismanagement and only a small, small fraction of proceeds actually makes their way to the relief fund. See Haiti earthquake as an obvious example. With tens of thousands of Texans now homeless, it would be greatly appreciated. If you're not able to make a monetary donation, that's understandable, but at least say a prayer for all of the victims of the storm. Also, if there's any of yall in the Houston/Costal Bend area that are okay, consider giving some of your time to volunteering and helping some of these poor folks clean up and begin their long road of recovery. That's what I'll be doing until I can go back to college (the start of our semester has been delayed due to the hurricane)
Lastly, thanks to those of you who have texted, mailed, or messaged me on snapchat/twitter asking if i was alright. I truly appreciate your concern. But thankfully, my family is fine. We're all safe and very very fortunate that we were one of the lucky ones that didn't get water in our home (although it got close, water getting up to our door)
