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You Can Donate To Victims Of Hurricane Harvey With Just One Text

by Tara Merrigan
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images

On Monday, the Texas Gulf Coast got news that the area could receive up to another two feet of rain in the coming days — after having already been inundated with roughly two feet of precipitation by Hurricane Harvey. First responders have already begun to evacuate residents in need, and if you'd like to contribute to this effort to restore Houston and other communities after Hurricane Harvey, it's easy to donate: text one of the relief organizations below.

Officials have warned the public that as many as 30,000 people could be forced into shelters because of Harvey, which made landfall on Friday as a Category 4 storm — the strongest to hit the continental U.S. in a decade. “We are not out of the woods yet,” Elaine Duke, acting Homeland Security secretary, said at a press conference, according to The Washington Post. “Harvey is still a dangerous and historic storm.” An official from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which falls under Homeland Security's department, echoed Duke's concern. "This is a landmark event for Texas," FEMA Administrator Brock Long told CNN. "Texas has never seen an event like this."

But it is likely that the Texas Gulf Coast's troubles will not cease after the Harvey storm system sputters out and stops bringing rain. Authorities said that flooding may last for quite sometime. “We are seeing catastrophic flooding, and this will likely expand and it will likely persist as it’s slow to recede,” Louis W. Uccellini, director of the National Weather Service, said on Monday.

MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images

And while the floodwaters will eventually recede sometime in the near future, the rebuilding effort will be a long-term project. “We’re setting up and gearing up for the next couple of years,” FEMA administrator Long said on Sunday, according to The New York Times. According to CNN Money, American corporations have already donated millions to help the relief effort, but to fund the entirety of such a project will require billions. The analytics firm CoreLogic predicts that the total cost of repairing the damage caused by Harvey could be as much as $40 billion.

If you would like to make a charitable contribution, please consider texting one of the following non-profits which are aiding the relief effort:

  • American Red Cross: To donate, text HARVEY to 90999 to make a $10 contribution.
  • Catholic Charities of USA: To donate, text 71777.
  • Global Giving: To donate, text HARVEY to 80100 to contribute $10 to the Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund.
  • Salvation Army: To donate, text STORM to 51555.