Remembering Hurricane Harvey: Impact and Response
Two months shy of Hurricane Harvey’s fifth anniversary, I came across a 52-page book called Hurricane Harvey: Impact and Response in Harris County. Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) published it in May 2018 as the final toll of the storm became clear.
An Emotional and Statistical Recreation of the Event
Unlike the statistical report put out by HCFCD on Harvey, this book is filled with poignant pictures and informative graphics that emotionally and statistically recreate the impact of the storm and our immediate response to it. (Unfortunately, virtually all images are copyrighted, so I cannot show them here.)
The foreword contains the Army Corps plea to Congress for $10 billion against the backdrop of a $20 billion economic impact from damage to Texas Ports. It also contains additional requests by the Texas Congressional delegation and senators for an additional $8.7 billion for disaster recovery funds, state educational agencies, SBA disaster loans, economic development aid, and transportation infrastructure repairs.
Book Includes…
These requests form the backdrop for the rest of the book. Various sections show:
- The scope and and scale of the storm
- Human impacts
- Economic impacts
- How the storm developed
- Comparisons to other record storms
- Rescue efforts
- The flood history of Harris County
- Damages
- Lake Houston and Lake Conroe dam performance
- Disaster response efforts/first responders
Statistics show the unprecedented intensity, breadth and duration of this storm which dumped the greatest amount of rain in North American history.
Watershed by Watershed Impacts
The book also highlights the storm’s impact on every watershed, damage to drainage infrastructure, the port of Houston, downtown, and how previous flood-damage-reduction projects performed.
For anyone trying to help friends, loved-ones or newcomers understand the punishment dished out by Harvey, this is a go-to resource. Beautifully written and art directed, it may bring a tear to survivors’ eyes.
The photo that got me was by Elizabeth Conley of the Houston Chronicle. It showed volunteers sorting acres of donated clothes at the George R. Brown Convention Center. Somehow, that captured the scope of the human impact like few other photos have.
Hurricane Harvey – Impact and Response in Harris County is a free download from HCFCD.
In the coming weeks, I plan to explore what we have accomplished in terms of flood mitigation since Harvey. More to follow.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 6/21/2022
1757 Days since Hurricane Harvey
