Hurricane Harvey: The Devastation and What Comes Next

8/31/2017 (Permalink)

Overwhelmed by the news since Harvey made landfall? Here is an overview of coverage by The New York Times.

The latest can be found in Thursday’s live storm briefing.

A region eyes recovery

With rainfall topping 47 inches in some areas, Harvey devastated aswath of Texas stretching east from Houston. “Our whole city is underwater,” Derrick Freeman, the mayor of Port Arthur, Texas, said on Wednesday.

A Times reporter shared his account of returning home to nearby Beaumont.

But even as the rain and wind moved on, the region continued to suffer the consequences of the storm. Explosions rocked a chemical plant early Thursday, and many hazards still lurk beneath the floodwaters that soaked the region.

As the sun returned on Wednesday, residents emerged to assess the damage.

Here are some of the most powerful photos of the devastation and a before-and-after look at the storm’s impact.

If you can do so safely, please share your own photos and videos here, or leave us a voice mail message. And listen to Thursday’s episode of “The Daily” to learn about how Houston was built to flood.

A look at the human toll

At least 38 people have died so far, including a Houston police officer, a family whose van was trapped beneath surging floodwater, and a mother whose shivering 3-year-old was found clinging to her unresponsive body.

The survivors face hurdles of their own and aid may be slow in coming. The difficulty of distributing aid was on display this week as many supply trucks arrived at a hub near San Antonio, but few went out.

Tens of thousands of people filled overcrowded shelters, the management of which remains “the biggest battle that we have right now,” Brock Long, the administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said on Thursday.

Vice President Mike Penceand other cabinet officials were expected to meet with storm survivors around Corpus Christi on Thursday, two days after President Trump himself visited the area.

Here’s a look at how victims sought out help online.

What made Harvey so powerful?

What set Harvey apart was its rain. Once it made landfall, the storm essentially stalled, turning roads into raging rivers. Scientists say it was fueled by a deadly combination of environmental factors.

And while it has been called a “500-year flood,” that term may be misleading: a similar storm may not be as far off as you might think.

For many people, the images of inundated streets and victims on rooftops evoked comparisons to Hurricane Katrina. In New Orleans, survivors of Katrina saw themselves in the scenes from Houston.

These maps track Harvey’s path through Texas and Louisiana. And here’s how experts prepared for the storm and worked to warn the public.

How to help

Many organizations are helping victims on the ground. Here are a few of them; a fuller list can be found here.

• The Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund was established by Mayor Sylvester Turner of Houston and is administered by the Greater Houston Community Foundation.

• The Houston Food Bank, the Galveston County Food Bank and the Food Bank of Corpus Christi are accepting online donations.

• The Houston Humane Society and the San Antonio Humane Society are helping animals affected by the storm.

• Save the Children is accepting donations.

Some scams are circulating online. Here are a few things to watch out for.