“This event is unprecedented and all impacts
are…beyond anything experienced."
While Harvey has been downgraded to a tropical storm since it made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane Friday night in Texas, it is responsible for at least five deaths, dozens of injuries and catastrophic flooding throughout the state. At least 316,000 customers are without electricity and the National Weather Service expects up to 50 inches of rain in some areas.
“This event is
unprecedented," the National Weather
Service said on Sunday. "All impacts are unknown and
beyond anything experienced."
Here's what you
can do to help.
DONATE TO THE VICTIMS
The American Red Cross and Salvation Army currently are taking
donations to help with hurricane relief efforts, while GoFundMe has a page dedicated to
campaigns for people affected by the storm. According to the Texas Diaper Bank, diapers are not provided by disaster relief agencies so
they are taking donations to put together disaster relief kits with diapers for
families with small children. The Coastal Bend Disaster Recovery Group is
also seeking donations to help those hit the hardest in the Texas coastal
region.
DONATE BLOOD
The South Texas
Blood & Tissue center is currently looking for blood
donors.
OPEN YOUR HOME TO STORM VICTIMS
If
you check in between now and September 1, 2017, Airbnb is waiving all service fees for those affected by
Hurricane Harvey. You can also list open rooms in your house on Airbnb to
welcome people whose homes were damaged by the hurricane or subsequent flooding.
DONATE TO ANIMAL SHELTERS
As
of Saturday, Austin Pets Alive! has transported over 235 animals to their shelter from
shelters affected by Hurricane Harvey and expect an influx of animals as
flooding gets worse. They are currently looking for financial donations to help
take care of the new animals and are also looking for people willing to adopt
pets to help alleviate crowding in the shelter. You can also donate to the SPCA of Texas.
