Heavy expenses from Hurricane Harvey

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“Our whole city is underwater,” Derrick Freeman, the mayor of Port Arthur, Texas, said to news reporters from The New York Times.

Hurricane Harvey, that made landfall on Aug. 25, continues to leave its destructive remnants. Wind speeds reached up to 130 mph, ranking Harvey as a Category 4 hurricane. Harvey first swept through the Texas coast in the small town of Rock port, while eventually spanning through Houston and ending in East Texas and Louisiana.

Fortunately, only 60 deaths have been reported from the hurricane, a significantly lower comparison to Katrina. While both were destructive in their own perspectives, Harvey resulted in fewer fatalities but is predicted to be the most expensive natural disaster in history, according to AccuWeather. Unlike Katrina, people were better informed before the hurricane hit the Texas coast. Katrina flooded more abruptly and in tensely, while Harvey’s flooding was mainly caused by heavy tropical storms, allowing residents to prepare and evacuate.

In fact, Harvey was only powerful because of its combination of severe environmental factors including warm water in the Gulf of Mexico and wind pat terns that pushed stronger to ward the north than the south. In addition, Harvey resulted in 4052 inches of rainfall that the storm is pulling back up into it self and dumping again as more rain.

However, researchers predict that Harvey may cost up to $160 billion in economic losses. While it should not make a huge hit to the overall growth in the economy, its impact will have lasting effects while the coast recovers. Because of the uniqueness to each hurricane and its effects, comparing previous storms makes it difficult to predict the full impact from Harvey.

Through this economic crisis, President Donald Trump has pledged to donate $1 mil lion of his own wealth to Hurricane Harvey victims. He would be joining several other notable figures who have donated to organizations for Harvey, such as professional football player J.J. Watt, actress Sandra Bullock and business leader Michael Dell who have all made generous contributions. On Sept. 1, Trump requested $7.9 billion from Congress in emergency spending for Texas and Louisiana to help recover from flooding. This would add $7.4 billion to Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster aid coffers and $450 million to finance disaster loans for small businesses, although this may only be a portion of the recovery expenses.

In addition, President Trump has made multiple visits to Southeast Texas to project hope and show compassion to the victims of the hurricane. While visiting with storm survivors and emergency management officials, he pledged a personal commitment to the recovery processes for Houston. The brief encounters Trump had with hurricane victims seemed to re veal a pleasant aspect of himself despite his history in controversial actions.

While recovering will be an enduring process for coastal Texas, several businesses have donated over $157 million to Harvey relief programs. In addition, organizations are available for those who want to make a contribution.

For general relief, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner found ed The Greater Houston Community Foundation, which is a Harvey relief fund to connect donors with nonprofits and innovative solutions in the social sector. Another organization, Direct Relief, is providing funding and emergency health kits to community health centers in Texas. Additionally, several food banks will serve the southwest region. Researchers suggest donating money to these organizations instead of food, since this allows a food bank to use the donations most efficiently. One nonprofit, Feeding Texas, works alongside state and federal relief efforts. This organization steps in during major disasters to co ordinate with the state and other providers so that relief reaches families quickly.