Hurricane Harvey, which made landfall in south Texas as a category 4 hurricane could be the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history with a potential price tag of $160 billion, according to preliminary estimates. This equals the cost of Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy combined (0.8% gross national product). “Parts of Houston, the United States’ fourth largest city, will be uninhabitable for weeks and possibly months due to water damage, mold, disease-ridden water and all that will follow this 1,000-year flood,” said Joel Myers, AccuWeather president.
FEMA said 30,000 people were in more than 200 shelters, large and small including the huge George R. Brown convention center, which was crowded with over 9,000 people. About 1,800 evacuees have been moved to hotels and other longer-term housing at the time this briefing was written.
Authorities opened two additional mega shelters, the NBA Rockets arena and the NFL Texans stadium. Joel Osteen, pastor of the Lakewood megachurch, who at first denied shelter to evacuees, opened the doors of his 16,000-seat arena to shelter them. More than 13,000 people were rescued from the fast-rising waters. The death toll had reached 30 as this briefing was written. And it’s not just in Houston. The flooding is spread over a massive 1,800 square mile area, which is most of Harris County.
Rainfall was the most ever recorded for a single storm in parts of Houston seeing nearly 50 inches of rain, more than the rainfall for an entire year. The highest rainfall total reached 51.88 inches in one location, a record. More than a trillion gallons of rain have fallen in Houston’s Harris County alone — enough to “run Niagara Falls for 15 days,” said Jeffery Lindner, meteorologist of the Harris County Flood Control District, “or fill the Houston Astrodome 3,200 times.”
Houston is also going to take a serious economic hit because of the impact of this catastrophe on business, corporate earnings, and employment, he added. Recovery from this record-breaking storm will take years as people and the city try to put their lives back together. Life-threatening flooding from the massive rainfall has caused most of the damage. The hurricane went back out to sea and returned to make landfall in Louisiana. By then it had been downgraded to a tropical storm and was moving north at 9 miles per hour.
Reservoirs near downtown Houston reached flood stage and overflowed their spillways adding to the flooding. The reason for the high level of destruction is the density of the population with millions of people affected.
Oil refineries went off line, airports closed and airlines cancelled approximately 10,000 flights, mostly from the two Houston airports, which are hubs for two of the largest airlines in the USA (United and Southwest).
“The day of test and purification is just upon us. Signs of a most startling character appear, in floods, in hurricanes, in tornadoes, in cloudbursts, in casualties by land and by sea, that proclaim the approach of the end of all things. The judgments of God are falling on the world, that men may be awakened to the fact that Christ will come speedily.” The Review and Herald, November 8, 1892.
Source References
· With Death Toll at 30, Storm Makes 2nd Landfall
Harvey to be costliest natural disaster in U.S. history, estimated cost of $190 billion
Hurricane Harvey, which made landfall in south Texas as a category 4 hurricane could be the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history with a potential price tag of $160 billion, according to preliminary estimates. This equals the cost of Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy combined (0.8% gross national product). “Parts of Houston, the United States’ fourth largest city, will be uninhabitable for weeks and possibly months due to water damage, mold, disease-ridden water and all that will follow this 1,000-year flood,” said Joel Myers, AccuWeather president.
FEMA said 30,000 people were in more than 200 shelters, large and small including the huge George R. Brown convention center, which was crowded with over 9,000 people. About 1,800 evacuees have been moved to hotels and other longer-term housing at the time this briefing was written.
Authorities opened two additional mega shelters, the NBA Rockets arena and the NFL Texans stadium. Joel Osteen, pastor of the Lakewood megachurch, who at first denied shelter to evacuees, opened the doors of his 16,000-seat arena to shelter them. More than 13,000 people were rescued from the fast-rising waters. The death toll had reached 30 as this briefing was written. And it’s not just in Houston. The flooding is spread over a massive 1,800 square mile area, which is most of Harris County.
Rainfall was the most ever recorded for a single storm in parts of Houston seeing nearly 50 inches of rain, more than the rainfall for an entire year. The highest rainfall total reached 51.88 inches in one location, a record. More than a trillion gallons of rain have fallen in Houston’s Harris County alone — enough to “run Niagara Falls for 15 days,” said Jeffery Lindner, meteorologist of the Harris County Flood Control District, “or fill the Houston Astrodome 3,200 times.”
Houston is also going to take a serious economic hit because of the impact of this catastrophe on business, corporate earnings, and employment, he added. Recovery from this record-breaking storm will take years as people and the city try to put their lives back together. Life-threatening flooding from the massive rainfall has caused most of the damage. The hurricane went back out to sea and returned to make landfall in Louisiana. By then it had been downgraded to a tropical storm and was moving north at 9 miles per hour.
Reservoirs near downtown Houston reached flood stage and overflowed their spillways adding to the flooding. The reason for the high level of destruction is the density of the population with millions of people affected.
Oil refineries went off line, airports closed and airlines cancelled approximately 10,000 flights, mostly from the two Houston airports, which are hubs for two of the largest airlines in the USA (United and Southwest).
“The day of test and purification is just upon us. Signs of a most startling character appear, in floods, in hurricanes, in tornadoes, in cloudbursts, in casualties by land and by sea, that proclaim the approach of the end of all things. The judgments of God are falling on the world, that men may be awakened to the fact that Christ will come speedily.” The Review and Herald, November 8, 1892.
Source References
· With Death Toll at 30, Storm Makes 2nd Landfall
Harvey to be costliest natural disaster in U.S. history, estimated cost of $190 billion
Hurricane Harvey, which made landfall in south Texas as a category 4 hurricane could be the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history with a potential price tag of $160 billion, according to preliminary estimates. This equals the cost of Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy combined (0.8% gross national product). “Parts of Houston, the United States’ fourth largest city, will be uninhabitable for weeks and possibly months due to water damage, mold, disease-ridden water and all that will follow this 1,000-year flood,” said Joel Myers, AccuWeather president.
FEMA said 30,000 people were in more than 200 shelters, large and small including the huge George R. Brown convention center, which was crowded with over 9,000 people. About 1,800 evacuees have been moved to hotels and other longer-term housing at the time this briefing was written.
Authorities opened two additional mega shelters, the NBA Rockets arena and the NFL Texans stadium. Joel Osteen, pastor of the Lakewood megachurch, who at first denied shelter to evacuees, opened the doors of his 16,000-seat arena to shelter them. More than 13,000 people were rescued from the fast-rising waters. The death toll had reached 30 as this briefing was written. And it’s not just in Houston. The flooding is spread over a massive 1,800 square mile area, which is most of Harris County.
Rainfall was the most ever recorded for a single storm in parts of Houston seeing nearly 50 inches of rain, more than the rainfall for an entire year. The highest rainfall total reached 51.88 inches in one location, a record. More than a trillion gallons of rain have fallen in Houston’s Harris County alone — enough to “run Niagara Falls for 15 days,” said Jeffery Lindner, meteorologist of the Harris County Flood Control District, “or fill the Houston Astrodome 3,200 times.”
Houston is also going to take a serious economic hit because of the impact of this catastrophe on business, corporate earnings, and employment, he added. Recovery from this record-breaking storm will take years as people and the city try to put their lives back together. Life-threatening flooding from the massive rainfall has caused most of the damage. The hurricane went back out to sea and returned to make landfall in Louisiana. By then it had been downgraded to a tropical storm and was moving north at 9 miles per hour.
Reservoirs near downtown Houston reached flood stage and overflowed their spillways adding to the flooding. The reason for the high level of destruction is the density of the population with millions of people affected.
Oil refineries went off line, airports closed and airlines cancelled approximately 10,000 flights, mostly from the two Houston airports, which are hubs for two of the largest airlines in the USA (United and Southwest).
“The day of test and purification is just upon us. Signs of a most startling character appear, in floods, in hurricanes, in tornadoes, in cloudbursts, in casualties by land and by sea, that proclaim the approach of the end of all things. The judgments of God are falling on the world, that men may be awakened to the fact that Christ will come speedily.” The Review and Herald, November 8, 1892.
Source References
· With Death Toll at 30, Storm Makes 2nd Landfall
Harvey to be costliest natural disaster in U.S. history, estimated cost of $190 billion
Hurricane Harvey, which made landfall in south Texas as a category 4 hurricane could be the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history with a potential price tag of $160 billion, according to preliminary estimates. This equals the cost of Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy combined (0.8% gross national product). “Parts of Houston, the United States’ fourth largest city, will be uninhabitable for weeks and possibly months due to water damage, mold, disease-ridden water and all that will follow this 1,000-year flood,” said Joel Myers, AccuWeather president.
FEMA said 30,000 people were in more than 200 shelters, large and small including the huge George R. Brown convention center, which was crowded with over 9,000 people. About 1,800 evacuees have been moved to hotels and other longer-term housing at the time this briefing was written.
Authorities opened two additional mega shelters, the NBA Rockets arena and the NFL Texans stadium. Joel Osteen, pastor of the Lakewood megachurch, who at first denied shelter to evacuees, opened the doors of his 16,000-seat arena to shelter them. More than 13,000 people were rescued from the fast-rising waters. The death toll had reached 30 as this briefing was written. And it’s not just in Houston. The flooding is spread over a massive 1,800 square mile area, which is most of Harris County.
Rainfall was the most ever recorded for a single storm in parts of Houston seeing nearly 50 inches of rain, more than the rainfall for an entire year. The highest rainfall total reached 51.88 inches in one location, a record. More than a trillion gallons of rain have fallen in Houston’s Harris County alone — enough to “run Niagara Falls for 15 days,” said Jeffery Lindner, meteorologist of the Harris County Flood Control District, “or fill the Houston Astrodome 3,200 times.”
Houston is also going to take a serious economic hit because of the impact of this catastrophe on business, corporate earnings, and employment, he added. Recovery from this record-breaking storm will take years as people and the city try to put their lives back together. Life-threatening flooding from the massive rainfall has caused most of the damage. The hurricane went back out to sea and returned to make landfall in Louisiana. By then it had been downgraded to a tropical storm and was moving north at 9 miles per hour.
Reservoirs near downtown Houston reached flood stage and overflowed their spillways adding to the flooding. The reason for the high level of destruction is the density of the population with millions of people affected.
Oil refineries went off line, airports closed and airlines cancelled approximately 10,000 flights, mostly from the two Houston airports, which are hubs for two of the largest airlines in the USA (United and Southwest).
“The day of test and purification is just upon us. Signs of a most startling character appear, in floods, in hurricanes, in tornadoes, in cloudbursts, in casualties by land and by sea, that proclaim the approach of the end of all things. The judgments of God are falling on the world, that men may be awakened to the fact that Christ will come speedily.” The Review and Herald, November 8, 1892.
Source References
· With Death Toll at 30, Storm Makes 2nd Landfall
Harvey to be costliest natural disaster in U.S. history, estimated cost of $190 billion