Drone footage shows the wreckage Hurricane Harvey left after landfall, and the havoc it's wreaking still
Hurricane Harvey made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane in Rockport, Texas, on Friday night. Port Aransas and surrounding coastal towns, like Rockport, were under mandatory evacuation order, and those who chose to stay — like Bill and Paulette Rogers — were told to write their Social Security numbers on their arms for easy identification of their bodies. Bill and Paulette and their two dogs spent Friday night in their Port Aransas house, then their car, then finally up to their shoulders in water in their floating Ford F-250 truck. "This is the dumbest thing I've ever done," Bill told The Dallas Morning News afterward, when the storm surge had receded. This is the scene they woke up to, in Rockport and Aransas County.
Harvey was downgraded to a Category 1 hurricane and then a tropical storm, but the storm was just getting started. Here is some drone footage of Houston, parts of which will get 50 inches of rain before Harvey peters out over the Gulf of Mexico. Much of America's fourth-largest city is underwater.
On Monday in Washington, FEMA Administrator Brock Long said that more than 30,000 people are going to need shelter in Texas, and "the sheltering mission is going to be a very heavy lift."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
What message is Trump sending with his Cabinet picks?
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION By nominating high-profile loyalists like Matt Gaetz and RFK Jr., is Trump serious about creating a functioning Cabinet, or does he have a different plan in mind?
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Wyoming judge strikes down abortion, pill bans
Speed Read The judge said the laws — one of which was a first-in-the-nation prohibition on the use of medication to end pregnancy — violated the state's constitution
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
US sanctions Israeli West Bank settler group
Speed Read The Biden administration has imposed sanctions on Amana, Israel's largest settlement development organization
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Biden visits Amazon, says climate legacy irreversible
Speed Read Nobody can reverse America's 'clean energy revolution,' said the president, despite the incoming Trump administration's promises to dismantle climate policies
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
At least 95 dead in Spain flash floods
Speed Read Torrential rainfall caused the country's worst flooding since 1996
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Cuba roiled by island-wide blackouts, Hurricane Oscar
Speed Read The country's power grid collapsed for the fourth time in just two days
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Wildlife populations drop a 'catastrophic' 73%
Speed Read The decline occurred between 1970 and 2020
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Floridians flee oncoming Hurricane Milton
Speed Read The hurricane is expected to cause widespread damage in the state
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Beryl kills 4, knocks out power to 2.7M in Texas
Speed Read Millions now face sweltering heat without air conditioning
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Arid Gulf states hit with year's worth of rain
Speed Read The historic flooding in Dubai is tied to climate change
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
EPA limits carcinogenic emissions at 218 US plants
Speed Read The new rule aims to reduce cancer-causing air pollution in areas like Louisiana's 'Cancer Alley'
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published