Hurricane Harvey

Hi friends! I just wanted to give everyone an update of hurricane Harvey. We are now 5 days in and the majority of Houston is completely under water. Being from Corpus Christi and now living in Houston, this storm has definitely hit home. We have been in Dallas since Friday, and I am SO thankful we got out while we could. Pretty much every neighborhood around ours is under a mandatory evacuation. It breaks my heart to see the pictures and to think about the people who have lost everything. We have many friends in Houston whose homes have flooded, have had to evacuate with nothing, or have been stuck inside their homes for days praying that the water doesn’t start to come in. So many roads are closed and so many people have lost their homes and everything they had. It is so heart breaking to see the news and the many pictures on social media that have been shared.

Thank you to everyone that has reached out to me to check on Patrick and I and my parents. Patrick and I got out on Friday, thankfully, and came to stay with Patrick’s parents in Dallas. As far as we know our house has not flooded. We have been extremely lucky thus far. Our plan is to go back as soon as we are able to to get back safely. My parents left Corpus Christi on Friday and were able to get back home on Saturday. Their home was not damaged and they only had a few tree limbs down.

I have had a few people reach out to me asking how you can help so I wanted to share a few different organization I have found where you can donate and a few different places where you can take food and clothing donations.

The American Red Cross 

Text HARVEY to 90999 to make a $10 donation

To donate by phone, call 1-800-HELP NOW (1-800-435-7669)

 

JJ Watt’s Fundraising

 

The United Way

Texas UWFLOOD to 41444 to donate to the United Way Flood Relief Fund

 

The Salvation Army

Visit HERE

Call 1-800-SAL-ARMY

 

I also found a gofundme to help the animals that have been displaced during the storm! Visit HERE to donate.

You can also volunteer at shelters, food banks, donate to blood banks and volunteer at the shelter’s that have been opened up to help the city of Houston. If you have any more question about ways to donate, feel free to reach out to me or email me at rachelkaplan@littlebitofliving.com! Please continue to PRAY! The power of prayer is amazing!

I saw this on Facebook and it really puts things into perspective:

For my non-Houston friends- to help you understand the devastation:
Houston is huge.

The greater metropolitan area is circled by the Grand Parkway – which is 170 miles long. That makes the area of the circle inside the Grand Parkway over 2200 sq. miles.

2200 square miles of densely habited, urban and suburban, areas is flooded.