HURRICANE HARVEY

As many of you know, I am from H-town. I was born and raised there. My children and grandchildren live there. My roots run deep there. I have been through multiple tropical storms and several hurricanes. However, we have never experienced anything like a hurricane named Harvey.

When I first met Harvey, he was a tropical storm around the Yucatan Peninsula with a not well developed eye. Because of that, he wasn't strengthening. All the weather guys were keeping an eye on him as he entered the Gulf of Mexico. The water is around 90 degrees in the Gulf during August/September and that warm water fueled Harvey and helped him develop into a category 4 storm. Harvey made landfall in Rockport, TX on August 26th.

Houston has seen rapid urban development (urban sprawl), with absorbent prairie and wetlands replaced by hard surfaces which rapidly shed storm water, overwhelming the drainage capacity of the rivers and channels. Between 1992 and 2010 almost 25,000 acres of wetlands were lost, decreasing the detention capacity of the region by four billion gallons. However, Harvey was estimated to have dropped more than fifteen trillion gallons of water in the area. Let that sink in for a minute.

Throughout Texas, more than 300,000 people were left without electricity and billions of dollars of property damage was sustained. As of September 6, at least 69 fatalities have been confirmed, although that number was expected to rise.By August 29, 2017 approximately 13,000 people had been rescued across the state while an estimated 30,000 were displaced. The refinery industry capacity was reduced, and oil and gas production was affected in the Gulf of Mexico and inland Texas. On Monday, various news outlets announced the closure of oil refineries ahead of Hurricane Harvey, creating an artificial fuel shortage. Panicked, motorists waited in long lines. Consequently, gas stations through the state were forced to close due to the rush.

More than 48,700 homes were affected by Harvey throughout the state, including over 1,000 that were completely destroyed and more than 17,000 that sustained major damage; approximately 32,000 sustained minor damage. Nearly 700 businesses were damaged as well.Texas Department of Public Safety stated more than 185,000 homes were damaged and 9,000 destroyed. With peak accumulations of 51.88 in, Harvey is the wettest tropical hurricane on record in the contiguous United States. The resulting floods inundated hundreds of thousands of homes, displaced more than 30,000 people, and prompted more than 17,000 rescues.

The local National Weather Service office in Houston observed all-time record daily rainfall accumulations on both August 26 and 27, measured at 14.4 in and 16.08 in respectively. Multiple flash flood emergencies were issued in the Houston area by the National Weather Service beginning the night of August 26. In Pearland, a suburb south of Houston, a report was made of 9.92 in of rainfall in 90 minutes.The 39.11 in of rain in August made the month the wettest ever recorded in Houston since record keeping began in 1892, more than doubling the previous record of 19.21 inches in June 2001.  Over a 4 day period, the accumulation of rain was almost 52 inches.

An estimated 25-30% of Harris County, roughly 444 miles of land, was completely submerged.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott deployed the state's entire National Guard for search and rescue, recovery, and clean up operations due to the devastating damage caused by the storm and resulting floods. Other states' National Guard's have offered assistance, with several having already been sent.  Meanwhile, the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement assigned approximately 150 employees from around the country to assist with disaster relief efforts, while stating that no immigration enforcement operations would be conducted.

Approximately 32,000 people were displaced in shelters across the state by August 31. The George R. Brown Convention Center, the state's largest shelter, reached capacity with 8,000 evacuees. The NRG Center opened as a large public shelter accordingly. More than 210,000 people registered with FEMA for disaster assistance.

The Cajun Navy, an informal organization of volunteers with boats from Louisiana, deployed to Texas to assist in high-water rescues.

Based on current damage estimates made by multiple agencies, Hurricane Harvey is likely to be at least the second-most costly natural disaster in U.S. history, behind only Hurricane Katrina in 2005.  Moody's Analytics has estimated the total economic cost of the storm at $81 billion to $108 billion or more; most of the economic losses are damage to homes and commercial property. USA Today reported an AccuWeather estimate of $190 billion, released August 31. On September 3, Texas state governor Greg Abbott estimated that damages will be between $150 billion and $180 billion, surpassing the $120 billion that it took to rebuild New Orleans after Katrina.  According to weather analytics firm Planalytics, lost revenue to Houston area retailers and restaurants alone will be approximately $1 billion. The Houston area controls 4% of the spending power in the United States.

A significant portion of the storm's damages may be uninsured losses. Regular homeowner insurance policies generally exclude coverage for flooding, as the National Flood Insurance Program underwrites most flood insurance policies in the US.  Although the purchase of flood insurance is obligatory for federally guaranteed mortgages for homes within the 100-year flood plain, enforcement of the requirement is difficult and many homes, even within the 100-year flood plain, lack flood insurance. Most of the homes/areas flooded had never flooded before and were under no flood area requiring the flood insurance.

The clean up in Houston is going to take a long time. Some residents' lives have been changed forever. Many people have stepped up to help financially and others have given of their time and efforts to help. Strangers were rescuing strangers and there has been a true unity among all in the efforts to rebuild. Please continue to pray for Houston and for all of those affected by this storm.