The survivors of Hurricane Harvey receive support from missionaries with open arms
by Journalism I student Olivia Smith, ’20
Causing approximately $125 billion in damage, Hurricane Harvey hit the coast of Texas on Aug. 25, 2017. The wind swirled as it swept up the water and blew it around the city. Roofs on houses were ripped off and carried through the streets. This storm ranked the second most costly hurricane to hit the U.S. mainland since 1900.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott told “Good Morning America” that because of Hurricane Harvey, “This is going to be a massive, massive cleanup process.” Hurricane Harvey was Texas’s most deadly storm in a century and two locations endured five feet of rain, along with flooding downtown Houston. Roads were halfway submerged in dirty water, and houses were flooded up to the second floor.
Image Courtesy The Weather Channel
This map shows colors which indicate where in Texas the hurricane was the most intense, which is indicated in purple. The strongest part was on the right outer corner, going into the northwestern side of the Gulf of Mexico. The scale is numbered by percentage or tropical-storm-force winds. In the middle of the map, the little white dot indicated Hurricane Harvey’s center location at 7 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 25, 2017.
After hearing about the destruction caused by Hurricane Harvey, junior Pearl Durakovic went on a mission trip to provide aid for the people of Houston Texas. “I went on one the year before,” she said. “I wanted to go on another one. [I found the experience to be] rewarding.”
Durakovic along with another missionary are seen checking out the walls that have just been sanded and are ready to be painted. Durakovic discussed the condition of the house.
Image Courtesy Pearl Durakovic
“It looked pretty normal on the outside, but when you walked inside the houses, it was really dusty and there was water damage,” she said. “A lot of the families were living with other family members.”
A voluntary journalism survey of 212 students taken in November 2018 indicates that eight of the 212 people said they have been on a mission trip to help people affected by a hurricane. Also, 110 of the 212 people said they have donated something in a food or clothing drive.
Source: Voluntary journalism survey conducted in November 2018
Source: Voluntary journalism survey conducted in November 2018
Other smaller ways to get involved in hurricane relief efforts are food, clothing, and toy drives. Many churches and schools conduct food drives where people can donate canned goods which will be given to people who were impacted by natural disasters. Along with food drives, many organizations conduct clothing drives in which people can donate kids and adult clothing. According to the Glenoak High School website, the school in Plain Township, Ohio teamed up with the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank to collect donations to help replenish the foodbank in order to send assistance to families in Houston. Over 50 percent of the survey participants said they have donated something in a food or clothing drive for hurricane survivors.
Ohio experienced some of the minor effects of Hurricane Harvey. Some of the main cities in Ohio experienced rainfall over the span of five days.
Most of the people who were affected by this hurricane have suffered a great amount of damage to their houses. With the help that these missionaries provided, they were able to receive newly built houses. These missionaries renewed the hope for the hurricane victims.
Two survivors of the hurricane are seen thanking the group from New Hope Church after they rebuilt the couples home. Image Courtesy New Hope Church