Hurricanes battle up the coast

           By: Sydney Sayre
           Rainfall reached over 50 inches in some parts of Texas after Hurricane Harvey hit the coast on August 25. Engulfing many cities and towns with water, Harvey wreaked havoc on the homes and buildings.

            In only 72 hours, Harvey made its way over 20,000-square-miles according to the Texas-based climatologist John Neilson-Gammon. With an estimated 130 mph winds and downpours of rain that reached 4 inches per hour, climatologists are calling Harvey the worst rainfall in the country’s history.

            In 48 hours, Irma left 6.2 million Floridians in the dark. No storm on record has maintained winds of 185 mph according to CNN, and it is the longest recorded category 5 hurricane. Over 6 million people evacuated the state of Florida before Irma made landfall.

            Chloe Hayman, senior, said, “My family’s town was flooded but it wasn’t as severe as the other places. I just know everyone is okay and I’m thankful for that.”

            Global Giving began a relief fund with a goal of 5 million, and almost half has already been raised. After 10 days of being published, 23,892 donors have given money to help with emergency supplies for those that survived the hurricane. 

            Why give aid to the victims? According to Jo Boggess Phillips, Civics teacher, “They are fellow Americans. They are our people. If it were us, we would be thankful for the people giving.”

            Two Ripley High alumni that live in Houston had damage to their home, with the first-floor flooding. Their children caught minnows in the living room, and found several snakes slithering around. To even get into the house, they had to kayak.

            Many churches across the States are starting supply drives for the victims, collecting different necessities. However, when a large amount of people purchases the same items over and over, it gets to be overkill. Researching and finding out what is needed could go a long way.

            Monetary donation is a great way to give without having to think out about what to buy. Of course, always check on the legitimacy of different organizations. You want to make sure your money is going to the victims and not being used for something else. The Harvey Relief Fund, All Hands Volunteers, and Direct Relief are reliable organizations that you can give money or items to help people affected by the hurricanes.

            After talking to a few students at Ripley High School in Ripley, West Virginia, it helped put perspective into the connection everyday students have with news.

            Grace Bumpus stated, “We could start a collection of different items and a fund to help those affected. I think with how close our community is, we could all come together to help.”

In Ripley, a diaper drive is taking place for those affected by the hurricanes that need them. Diapers and money will be collected on Saturday, September 16 and sent down to Texas and Florida.

Mayor of Ripley Carolyn Rader combined efforts with the United Methodist Committee of Relief to plan the Dollars & Diapers drive that will take place from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

“You never know who needs diapers, and once you use them they are gone, you can’t use them anymore,” Mayor Rader said.

Irma swept from the east to the west coast as it went up and into the U.S. Starting as a category 5 hurricane, it later downgraded to a category 4, before most recently downgrading to a tropical storm. However, the storm still rages up the coast, with power outages, emergency lines down, and flooding.