Hurricane Harvey has destroyed the lives of thousands of people. With no homes, and no way of transportation, shelters are overflowing with displaced individuals and families. The cost of the damage is unknown yet, but it is estimated to have a $190 billion impact on the United States economy. It is going to be one of the costliest storms in the history of the United States. With the news of the destruction, neighboring cities and states have unfied and rushed to aid in any way posible.
A theory of why Harvey is so severe is because of climate change. The Gulf of Mexico is 1 to 2 F degrees higher than average, and in the Gulf there are warmer areas of the ocean called eddies, which is 1 to 2 F degrees warmer than the Gulf. When Harvey passed over this eddy or pocket of water, the hotter water fueled the energy of the storm and pushed it on to south Texas. Now, Harvey is stuck over Texas and continues to wreak havoc. There is an equally large, high pressure system that is driving against the storm. These two forces are canceling each other out so that the category 4 hurricane is stuck over south Texas.
Because this tragedy is just south of Dallas, so many people have close friends or family that live in Houston. For that reason, communities have bonded together to do anything they can to support victims. In my neighborhood, local people have organized supply drives and fundraisers. Yesterday, there were people selling coffee and lemonade to try and raise money to send down to Houston. If everyone contributes, even in small ways, we can help Harvey victims persevere.
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