While Harvey has been downgraded to a tropical storm since it made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane Friday night in Texas, it is responsible for at least five deaths, dozens of injuries and catastrophic flooding throughout the state. At least 316,000 customers are without electricity and the National Weather Service expects up to 50 inches of rain in some areas.
"This event is unprecedented," the National Weather Service said on Sunday. "All impacts are unknown and beyond anything experienced."
Here's what you can do to help.
Donate to the Victims
The American Red Cross and Salvation Army currently are taking donations to help with hurricane relief efforts, while GoFundMe has a page dedicated to campaigns for people affected by the storm. According to the Texas Diaper Bank, diapers are not provided by disaster relief agencies so they are taking donations to put together disaster relief kits with diapers for families with small children. The Coastal Bend Disaster Recovery Group is also seeking donations to help those hit the hardest in the Texas coastal region.
Donate Blood
The South Texas Blood & Tissue center is currently looking for blood donors.
Open Your Home to Storm Victims
If you check in between now and September 1, 2017, Airbnb is waiving all service fees for those affected by Hurricane Harvey. You can also list open rooms in your house on Airbnb to welcome people whose homes were damaged by the hurricane or subsequent flooding.
Donate to Animal Shelters
As of Saturday, Austin Pets Alive! has transported over 235 animals to their shelter from shelters affected by Hurricane Harvey and expect an influx of animals as flooding gets worse. They are currently looking for financial donations to help take care of the new animals and are also looking for people willing to adopt pets to help alleviate crowding in the shelter. You can also donate to the SPCA of Texas.
