Hurricane Harvey
Which part of Texas was most severely affected by Hurricane Harvey?
What category was Hurricane Harvey when it hit Texas?
When and where did Hurricane Harvey first make landfall?
How much damage did Hurricane Harvey cause?
How many people were affected by Hurricane Harvey?
How were Texas residents affected by the storm?
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Hurricane Harvey, large tropical cyclone that brought significant rainfall into the Houston, Texas, area in August 2017, causing catastrophic flooding. Harvey was the first category 4 hurricane to hit the United States since Hurricane Charley in 2004 and the first to hit the Texas coast since Hurricane Celia in 1970. Whereas hurricanes typically weaken when approaching land, Harvey instead underwent rapid intensification in the 24 hours before the storm reached land. Climate scientists partially attributed the phenomenon to climate change, because warmer waters can cause tropical storm wind speeds to increase more quickly. See also List of the Costliest Hurricanes in the United States.
Initial identification
Hurricane conditions were first identified on August 13, 2017, when a tropical wave combined with a low-pressure area near Cabo Verde on the west coast of Africa. The wave and low-pressure system moved westward across the Atlantic Ocean. Experts were initially unsure if the wave and pressure system would coalesce into a tropical cyclone. On the morning of August 17, however, meteorologists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Hurricane Center issued a warning that the storm had become a tropical cyclone and that afternoon named it Tropical Storm Harvey. The islands of Martinique, Saint Lucia, Barbados, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines were issued tropical storm warnings.
(How do hurricanes get their names?)
On August 18 Tropical Storm Harvey entered the Caribbean Sea, where it weakened from a tropical storm into a tropical wave. It continued toward the Yucatán Peninsula, where warm waters and winds from the Bay of Campeche and the Gulf of Mexico created appropriate conditions for the tropical storm to re-form. By the evening of August 24, the storm had been identified as a hurricane—and it was quickly approaching the coast of Texas.
Growth and landfall
Hurricane Harvey rapidly intensified from a category 3 hurricane on the afternoon of August 25 to a category 4 storm by that evening (see also Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale). The National Weather Service issued a rarely used extreme wind warning, notifying residents that they should “treat these imminent extreme winds as if a tornado was approaching.” The eye of the hurricane first made contact with land about 10 pm on August 25, moving from San José Island in the Gulf of Mexico to the nearby Texas cities of Rockport and Fulton. The strongest gust of wind measured from the storm was traveling at a speed of about 126 knots (145 miles [233 km] per hour) and was recorded in Rockport, Texas. Wind speeds of about 116 knots (133 miles [214 km] per hour) and about 94 knots (108 miles [174 km] per hour) were recorded near Port Aransas and Aransas Pass, respectively.
From August 25 to August 31, torrential rainfall and strong winds struck southern and southeastern Texas, causing catastrophic flooding and making Harvey the wettest tropical cyclone then on record in the United States. Although the winds of the storm quickly weakened after it made landfall, Harvey was uniquely destructive because it stalled over southern Texas. The prolonged standstill caused extreme and record-breaking rainfall concentrated in the Houston area, rather than spreading over a larger geographical area as in most hurricanes. The storm eventually moved southeast, back over the Gulf of Mexico, where it strengthened slightly. Harvey’s final landfall took place as a tropical storm on August 30 near Cameron, Louisiana, before the storm dissipated.
Impact
Hurricane Harvey cost an estimated $160 billion in damage, making it the second most expensive hurricane in the United States at the time, after Hurricane Katrina ($198.6 billion). Nearly 7 million people experienced more than 30 inches (76 cm) of rainfall, 1.25 million people experienced more than 45 inches (114 cm), and 11,000 people experienced more than 50 inches (127 cm). The average rainfall in some areas of southern Texas is 20–32 inches (50–81 cm) per year. The torrential rainfall resulted in the flooding of the Guadalupe and Mission rivers, the Garcitas, Copano, and Coleto creeks, and other areas.
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Flooding from Harvey damaged more than 200,000 homes or businesses and displaced upward of 30,000 people. The hurricane also directly caused 89 deaths and created the need for more than 17,000 rescues. Victims were also affected in the long-term by damage resulting from the hurricane, including polluted floodwaters and mold inside dwellings and businesses, among other hazards.