It’s that time of the year again, when hurricane season starts and spending for flashlights, batteries, water and plywood beings in earnest.

Hurricane Harvey was huge news this past August through September, affecting more than 13 million people. Nearly a 130 thousand homes have been damaged or been destroyed as a result. Harvey was a category four hurricane which had a maximum winds of 130 mph. The flooding from Harvey dumped more than 27 trillion gallons of rain over Texas making it the most catastrophic hurricane event in many years,  Houston received 51.8 inches of rainfall. It will cost about $125 billion to repair and rebuilt cities and households that were destroyed by Harvey. There were 82 people killed by Hurricane Harvey, the health of the public was affected due to the floods in Texas. The waters were contaminated, meaning chemicals and oils were found in the water. Hurricane Harvey’s force lasted from August 25, 2017 to September 3, 2017. Many people participated in the relief efforts for Harvey, Apple donated $10 million to help people in need. President Donald Trump signed a new legislation allowing $15 billion for Hurricane Harvey relief.

Hurricane Irma on the other hand was another hurricane which formed shortly after Harvey. Irma was a category 5 hurricane which affected mostly the Caribbean Islands, Puerto Rico and Florida . Irma had a maximum of winds of 185 mph. Irma hit the Caribbean first before making its way to Southern Florida. About 124 people have lost their lives due to Irma, as Hurricane Irma lasted from August 30, 2017 to September 16, 2017. With an estimated cost of $62.87 billion to fix all the damage that has been done by Irma, about $2 million was spent on relief. The Red Cross is also helping people recover from Irma by providing food, shelter, and health services.  About  1.4 million dollar was used for food which was served across six states affected by Irma. About 640,000 relief items were given to people like coolers and comfort kits.

Another Hurricane which followed up after Irma was Hurricane Maria. Maria completely devastated Puerto Rico, the most by crushing down houses, taking down electric lines, and the roads were full of water and cracked. About 95% of Puerto Rico still has no power weeks after Maria hit the island. Maria was a category 5 hurricane with a maximum wind speeds of 175 mph. It will cost about 91 billion dollars to recover and repair Puerto Rice from this tragic event. Maria and Irma left 3.5 million people in Puerto Rico without power.

An earth science teacher at Morton West High School, Mr. Katzberger commented on subject of the of hurricane’s. Harvey was brought up, “It was really tragic event, and global warming is one of the massive effect on what happened”. Katzberger said of Hurricane Irma “We are getting more category 5 hurricanes and climate change is the reason why this is happening”. In reference to Hurricane Maria if she will have the same impact as the other two hurricanes, Katzburger’s responded, “It’s quite possible because Harvey and Irma has done so much damage and Maria probably will to”. In regards to relief efforts, Katzburger indicated that it will cost billions if not more to fix everything that was destroyed,  “It will take years instead of months for everything to get back to normal”.

Famous celebrities also contributed for relief efforts for Harvey, like JJ Watts of the Houston Texans football team, raised 37 million dollars and Katzburger’s said “It’s great when famous people use there riches for a great cause instead of self-promoting”.   A lot of places got hit very badly by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria, these tragedies have been heard all around our country, and all around the world. So many people have been affected by these hurricanes, and so many more people have helped in so many ways from donating money to giving out food and supplies. Its amazing when people stand up and help each other in needs.  These donation help a lot of people get there lives back to normal and any monies that are donated help out so many people that survived these storms.