Wednesday, October 11, 2017

Relieving Hurricane Harvey

By Colin Morton
Staff Writer

 Hurricane Harvey was the first of the seemingly never ending marathon of hurricanes in 2017.  This one made landfall in Texas. It rampaged for 10 days straight and destroyed many homes.  Organizations from all over the world are working together to help Texas recover.
 There are no limits to who can help.  For example, country singer Clint Black was interviewed by Rolling Stone, and he said, “We braced ourselves through the night as the flood waters grew closer to our family's doorsteps in Houston and Katy.”  
 He was affected by the natural disaster, and he feels everybody else affected felt the same way as he did.  This caused him, along with Don Henley and Lyle Lovett to perform a concert to raise funds for the “revival” of Texas.  Also, whole businesses are getting in on donating to help Texas. The Center for Disaster Philanthropy states that they are “investing well rather than investing quickly, addressing the greatest needs and gaps in funding that may be yet to emerge.”  They are really digging deep and finding the hidden issues that are lacking funding, then they assist them.  
 As of Sept. 3, CNN Money reported a total of $157 million had been donated toward Hurricane Harvey relief. Walmart, Verizon, and Dell have been  the main contributors.  Walmart donated a total of $20 million.  Verizon donated $10 million.  Michael Dell (founder of the Dell computer company) donated $36 million.  Other companies contributed smaller amounts, but they are still over $1 million donations.
The money is mostly going toward services for the victims.  It is going toward rebuilding houses and other buildings, and cleaning up debris.  Many victims are angry because none of the money is being directly donated to them.
 Hopefully, Texas will recover in the near future.