It was a hot, muggy day on Friday, August 25, in Houston, Texas. This just so happened to be the day that Hurricane Harvey hit the southern shores of the United States. Particularly, it hit Texas, Louisiana, and the Caribbean. Harvey was a Category 3 hurricane, and even though it was kind of a medium size hurricane, it still caused extensive damage.

Even though Hurricane Harvey was only a Category 3, as stated above, it caused a lot of damage. This damage was caused mostly by water. You may be asking yourself, how could water have  possibly done that much damage? The answer to that is force. Water has a lot of force when it gets moving, and it will eventually take out anything in its path. Just imagine, if you lived in Texas, what would you do if you came out of your house and the water in the street was up to your waist. How would you feel? Many people have suffered tragic losses such as their homes, many, if not all, of their possessions, and some, even a family member’s life.

Hurricane Katrina is the most expensive hurricane in history, costing 108  billion dollars….. or at least  it used to be.Scientists expect the recovery from Hurricane Harvey will cost 70 to 250 billion dollars. The water damage will be the most expensive because of mold, and anything the water has touched has to be replaced. Houston says that it will take years to recover from this devastating hurricane.

In the first four days of Harvey hitting Texas, it brought 40 inches of water into the southern cities of Texas. This amount of water ended a record 12 year drought. Some may consider this drought being broken a good thing, but most say all of the water has ruined their homes.  Miss Freimuth, who has never been in a hurricane before says, ” My cousins, who live down in Houston, said that nothing of theirs has been affected by the hurricane. They were able to get to high ground.”. This family was one of the very few people that were so lucky.

As you can see, many people are struggling in Texas, and there are some ways that you and your community can help. Even if you are hundreds of miles away, you can still help by sending food, supplies, and any other necessary items needed to survive. If you do live in Texas, you can volunteer for the American Red Cross. As you can see, Harvey has hit Houston very hard, damaging and devastating people’s lives. Find out how you can help Texas in their long and hard recovery from Hurricane Harvey.