What is Hurricane Harvey?

Hurricane Harvey has been a Category 3-4 hurricane as of August 28th, 2017, and dissipated on September 2nd, 2017, and has ravaged through Texas and made countless residents homeless. At least 10 people have been killed due to the hurricane. Louisiana was also affected by Hurricane Harvey, But the damage was not as severe. Hundreds of citizens were trapped in their houses or on their roofs, waving and begging for help. Many survivors were rescued by helicopters, boats, and other makeshift transportation made for floods like these. Dallas is working heavily to keep its citizens safe by forming shelters and gathering supplies and other necessities. Houston was devastated by the hurricane, and AIR Worldwide, a risk modeling company, estimated on Monday that insured losses from just the winds and storm surge could reach more than $2.3 billion. Hundreds of shelters were being made in Houston to house and support the people who have lost their homes. Due to the damages to homes, FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) officials estimated that 450,000 people were likely to seek federal aid because the majority of homes damaged were not insured against the hurricane. And it’s not only the people on land that were in trouble. About 4 cruise ships holding almost 20,000 people are out in the ocean for an extended amount of time because of Hurricane Harvey. However, there is not much to worry about because the ships are out of danger and are heading to alternative ports, keeping the guests out of harm’s way.

What Makes Harvey Different From Other Hurricanes

Hurricane Harvey is the first major hurricane to hit the United States since 2005, when Hurricane Wilma hit Florida and Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. While Hurricane Katrina led to over 1000 deaths, Harvey is predicted to bring up to 50 inches of rain to Texas. The record amount of rain in a US hurricane has been held by Hurricane Tiki, with 52 inches of rain during 1950. Hurricane Harvey has created very windy conditions, but is one of the rainiest hurricanes to hit the United States.

How DHS Reacts

Junior Malia Gosiengfiao said, “I hope that all the citizens in Texas are safe with their families and that they find shelter as soon as possible.”

Junior Sumedh Vaidyanathan worriedly stated, “I have a cousin in Houston, Texas that I’m really scared for right now, but she said that so far, everything is looking up so far for Houston.”

Sophomore Kari [last name unknown] believed that “what’s happening in Texas really sucks, but it’s good to see that people are coming together to help them out…”

While people are looking to help Hurricane Harvey victims, there are many political spectrums around it. Many environmental and global warming activists are calling out against President Trump and his support of burning oil and gas, which they believe has led to this hurricane. Former President Barack Obama tweeted out, “How will GOP explain to our kids that it failed to combat climate change or prepare for its impacts because it denied basic facts?” Even the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) was hinting that the Trump administration was using Hurricane Harvey to ensnare illegal immigrants and were against Trump for not closing border checkpoints during the hurricane. However, none of these checkpoints were actually in the hurricane. Sadly, some of these attacks are very forced leftist partisan attacks that creates quite a distraction from the problem at hand. In the end, Texans are working together to help hurricane victims from this natural disaster and we must unite as one country instead of creating political tensions out of a natural disaster.

If you wish to donate to help support the people of Houston, Texas, here some helpful links for you to donate:

Google (middle of page): https://tinyurl.com/y7m5klgk

American Red Cross: https://tinyurl.com/y9r2eq7q

Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund: https://ghcf.org/hurricane-relief/