Over 100 Dead and Millions Without Power

Both of the apocalyptic hurricanes are well known by now; Hurricanes Irma and Harvey, the storms that took the lives of over 100 people. Hurricane Harvey first made landfall on Friday, August 25, and Irma first made landfall on September 7th. Newscasters and weather reporters were buzzing with news about the storms, desperately trying to inform the public.

Many people are familiar with the damage that comes from a hurricane. However, the damage from Harvey was unexpected. People underestimated the storm, and were stunned by how it turned out. In some parts of Texas, there were over 40 inches of rainfall, which led to catastrophic flooding that swept away homes. For many, the only things that people have is their loved ones and the clothes on their backs. It could take years for Texas to be fully recovered. The death toll from the storm has reached to about 70 people.

Florida has also been struggling. In some parts of Florida, there was over 15 inches of rain, more than 10 million people without power, and a staggering death toll of 82. More than half of the deaths have been from the Caribbean, 32 deaths from Florida, and 7 deaths from Georgia and South Carolina combined. The Florida Keys were drained because of the low pressure from the eye of the storm, and left many homes destroyed. Getting the power back on for people could take weeks.

David J Phillip/AP

Even though there is a lot of sadness that comes from these disasters, there has been some good. Many people are stepping up and coming together to save lives. People are using whatever they can find to travel in the water and carry people to safety.  The “Cajun Navy” is an abundance of people in Texas using their own boats, helping and saving the lives of citizens. These disasters are making heroes out of everyday citizens.

ERICH SCHLEGEL/GETTY IMAGES

Many donation efforts have helped. Organizations such as The Red Cross, churches, charities, FEMA, and other businesses have contributed. If you want to help, you can donate to the Red Cross and FEMA. Since these are the most costly disasters in America’s history, donations are definitely needed. The estimated cost for Harvey is about 190 billion dollars, and the estimated cost for Irma is about 5o billion dollars.

Follow these links if you want to help and donate.

 https://www.redcross.org/ns/apology/disaster_homepage.html

https://www.fema.gov/volunteer-donate-responsibly

In these disasters there have been people that have lost loved ones, their homes, or even everything they have. Many people have lost hope all together. To see people coming together and helping those who are in need is what gives hope back to the people. That is what matters most of all.