The Impact of Natural Disasters
On Friday August 25th, 2017, Hurricane Harvey made landfall on the Texas Gulf Coast.
Hurricane Harvey also made landfall on the Texas border near Cameron, Louisiana.
With winds reaching, 130 mph, Hurricane Harvey was named a Category 3 tropical hurricane. The last natural disaster Texas experienced was a Category 4 storm coined,The Great Galveston, on September 8th of 1900.
Hurricane Harvey dropped 40-52 inches of rainfall towards the southeast of Texas and southwest of Louisiana
Hurricane Harvey’s death toll was at least 82, according to the Washington Post. 30,000 people took refuge in shelters as the dangerous flooding continued.
“This is a landmark event for Texas,” stated Brock Long, the Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator. “Texas has never seen an event like this.”
Hurricane Irma came just weeks after Hurricane Harvey. Americans had barely started to recover from the devastation left in the wake of Hurricane Harvey. 25% of the state’s population have been asked to evacuate before the storm was to hit.
Hurricane Irma hit the morning of September 10, ripping off roofs, flooding coastal cities, and knocking out power to more than all of 6.8 million people. Hurricane Irma slammed into Florida as a category 5 hurricane and reached the Cape Verde islands, which houses around 5.6 million Floridians.
Hurricane Irma hit many other areas. The affected areas included Cuba, Puerto Rico, Cape Verde, the Bahamas, the Caribbean. Hurricane Irma left devastating results.
The death toll from Hurricane Irma was 73, according to the Orlando Weekly.
Tropical Storm Jose became another hurricane on September 6th. Ultimately, Hurricane Jose reached Category 1 status. Hurricane Jose hit the Atlantic Ocean and the east coast of the United States.
Jose had maximum sustained winds of 155 mph. Nantucket, an island off of Massachusetts, received wind gusts as high as 63 mph. Block island, off of Rhode Island, measured that wind gusts were of 61 mph early that Friday.
Additionally, Hurricane Maria whipped through all of Puerto Rico with almost Irma-level winds. Hurricane Maria drenched the island with Harvey-level flooding, which crippled communications and decimated buildings.
The aftermath of the hurricane was described as “apocalyptic” by its residents.
“The Trump Administration must act immediately to make available additional Department of Defense resources for search-and-rescue operations, law enforcement and transportation needs,” stated Nancy Pelosi, the Minority Leader in the House of Representatives. “Our fellow Americans in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands deserve to know that their government will be there for them, without question or hesitation.”
President Trump has pledged to help Puerto Rico and as well for the US Virgin Islands.
“We never expected to have a lot of debris in so many areas. A lot of roads are closed, older ones are just gone, it was devastating to see all that kind of debris in all areas in all towns of the Island,” reported Jennifer Gonzalez, the island’s non-voting representative, to CNN.
Century Biology teacher, Mr. Baca stated “There are already some groups that Century is involved in already with this situation.”
Additionally, many Century students suggested that holding fundraisers, such as a car wash would allow us to help those affected by these natural disasters. Others suggested holding another blood drive, as well as collecting water bottles and canned food.
“The flooding made me worried, because my friends live in those areas of the flooding,” stated Century High School Junior Helen Tran. “I was also scared that everything of their belongings have been washed away including their houses. I felt bad for the people whose houses were destroyed and also for all those homeless animals.”
Natural disasters can be devastating and we should do everything we can to help out.