The resources to learn about Hurricane Harvey and help those affected.
It’s clear that what’s happening in Texas, and Houston specifically, is going to take months, if not years, to resolve itself. The waters keep rising in America’s fourth-largest city, and people are getting displaced.
Google has taken it upon itself to create a number of resources that users both within Texas and outside the state can use to track the storm, find shelter, and donate money. Here’s what you need to know.
Google’s Crisis Map
Google has built a Crisis Map that overlays open shelters on top of a precipitation map, allowing those in the affected region to see whether it’s the right idea to try to move to a new location.
This is the worst storm since Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in 2005, and the cleanup efforts will be ongoing. Google’s Crisis Map will continue to be a resource for everything to do with Harvey.
Google also says that it is donating up to $ 500,000 to the American Red Cross to help with triage and, in the months to come, cleanup effort.
Carriers are waiving fees
Most of the U.S. carriers are waiving fees for prepaid and postpaid customers in the affected regions. While there are widespread power outages in most of east Texas and throughout the city of Houston, T-Mobile, Verizon, Sprint and AT&T have all pledged to keep their service up and running, so you can call, text and use data as much as necessary to stay safe.
U.S. carriers are waiving fees for those affected by Hurricane Harvey
Do your part
If you can, we ask you to please contribute to the Hurricane Harvey relief efforts. Every cent you share can make a real difference.