Harvey by the Numbers—So Far
It is estimated that 70% or 1300 sq miles of Harris County's 1800 sq miles was covered with 1.5 ft of water #houwx #hounews #txwx
— Jeff Lindner (@JeffLindner1) September 1, 2017
As Houston begins to emerge from beneath the damage left behind by Hurricane Harvey's torrential rains, early assessments are calling the days-long weather event "the worst U.S. flood storm ever." Below, some shocking statistics that illustrate the extent of Harvey's destruction:
1 trillion
Gallons of water that fell in Harris County over four days
24.5 trillion
Total gallons of water dumped on the Gulf Coast by Hurricane Harvey, with 19 trillion in Texas and 5.5 million in Louisiana
Harvey essentially dropped two feet of rain over an area about the size of West Virginia. Most ever by a storm over 3- and 5-day period
— Eric Berger (@SpaceCityWX) August 29, 2017
300,000 to 500,000
Cars destroyed by floodwaters, with other estimates placing the number closer to 1 million—more vehicles destroyed than any other natural disaster in U.S. history
18
Refineries closed or at risk of closing due to Harvey, accounting for 4.6 million barrels a day of fuel production, or 25 percent of the total U.S. refining capacity
400,000 acre-feet of water
The amount contained by Addicks and Barker dams during the storm, about the same amount of water that goes over Niagara Falls in 10 days
Council today OK'd $20 million in emergency funds for cleanup. We hope FEMA advances funds to us. Ike cleanup cost $70 million.
— Sylvester Turner (@SylvesterTurner) August 30, 2017
40 inches
Peak accumulation of rainfall during Allison, the costliest tropical storm on record in the U.S., which caused over $9 billion in damages in 2001
51.88 inches
Peak rainfall accumulation during Hurricane Harvey, making it the wettest tropical cyclone on record in the contiguous U.S.
49.77 inches
Houston's annual average rainfall amount
Incredible totals. Some areas in that Houston-Beaumont strip have gotten in one storm what we get in an ENTIRE year (on average) pic.twitter.com/E8JpACFXZy
— TerpWeather (@TerpWeather) August 30, 2017
$12.5 billion
Damages caused by Hurricane Ike in 2008
$30 billion
Estimated damages caused by Hurricane Harvey
10,400
Combined insurance claims received so far by Farmers Insurance and State Farm from affected Houstonians
Moody's Harvey cost estimates:
— Collin Eaton (@CollinEatonHC) August 31, 2017
Home: $45-55B
Property: $15-20B
Auto: $8-12B
Infrastructure: $5-10B
Lost econ output: $8-11B
Total: $81-$108B
100,000
Homes estimated to have been flooded by Hurricane Harvey
30,000
Houstonians estimated to be displaced from their homes
13,000
Houstonians who had to be rescued from their flooding homes
47
Initial death toll from Harvey, expected to climb over the coming days
