Hurricane Harvey has caused unprecedented natural hazard in Texas state of the United States. Nature became furious, as could be seen from destruction of trees and houses leaving many house-owners homeless. Rockport and Port Aransas bore the brunt of the storm which witnessed destruction of buildings, apart from flooding of homes. The speed of Hurricane Harvey was recorded at 130 miles per hour. It was followed by heavy rainfalls in different cities of Texas, the second largest state of the US, making lives of the people unbearable. Houston and Galveston cities of Texas plus airport of Houston went under water. Houston, known as Petro Metro since more than dozen oil refineries are located there and being the fourth largest city in America, was the worst victim of the nature's wrath.
Rescue boats of Coast Guards plied on highways saving lives of many stranded families. This writer came into contact with his relatives and friends, including former Ambassador of the Philippines to South Korea, Dumapias, who turned out to be a priest in San Antonio of Texas. Some of his relatives including former Air Vice-Marshal Sadruddin Mohammad Hossain and his eldest sister Saida Akhtar were safe from the natural hazard. But all of them were having the nightmare. As of now, San Antonio and Dallas of Texas remained free from hazard of Hurricane Harvey and Mayors of Dallas and San Antonio provided shelters to the homeless people.
The Governor of Texas made arrangements to evacuate affected residents to safer zones. Meanwhile, President Trump declared Texas as a disaster-prone area and granted it federal disaster assistance. He was in touch with the situation in Texas from Camp David through teleconference which was led by Homeland Security Advisor Tom Bossert. In a tweet, Trump told a Senator that he was not going to make mistake like President George Bush. During tenure of Bush at least 10,000 people lost their lives as a result of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in Louisiana in 2005.
The Federal government has instructed FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency of the Department of Homeland Security) to mobilise its resources for rescue operation. Similarly, American Red Cross is now in the devastated places of Texas to rescue victims and prepare food for them as well. The White House has set up a special cell to coordinate with the Governor of Texas. It is understood that the army has been alerted to join reconstruction operation as soon as the situation comes under control. Apart from 1,200 Coast Guards, 1,300 National Guards were placed to save people from floodwaters. Officers from the US Air Force also joined the rescue operation. In some places in Texas, rainfalls were recorded at more than 20 inches while Harris county recorded 24.28 inches. Rainfall was recorded at some places at around 50 inches as of September 1. Record-breaking rainfall was registered indeed in the history of the US.
As of now, 49 people are reported dead while 30 to 40 people are unaccounted for as of August 28 at Aransas county. According to statistics, 4.5 million were affected in Houston and its suburbs. Emergency workers continued to make dramatic rescue of people stranded in rising waters. The Trump government has sought around $ 7.8 billion relief fund from the Congress.
Meanwhile, President Trump and First Lady Melania visited affected areas of Texas along with the Governor on August 29. Texas Senator Ted Cruz also visited some of the affected areas and inquired about the safety arrangements as well. Around 100,000 homes were affected. Trump's office is preparing a multibillion dollar bill to speed up relief operations for victims of Hurricane Harvey. The President himself donated one million dollars. The FEMA declared that it would spend around $ 3.6 billion it has in its relief fund. Trump and Melania visited Texas again on September 2 and met stranded people in relief centres and extended hands to distribute food to affected people. They inquired about their problems and praised the local authority for taking prompt action in saving lives of stranded people.
Louisiana has not also been spared this time either. The Governor of Louisiana declared a state of emergency and the President sanctioned federal disaster assistance as well. Trump also visited Louisiana. Baton, Livingston and Ascension parishes were mostly affected in Louisiana. About 11.000 homes were affected causing losses to the extent of $20.7 billion. President Trump is confronting serious natural disasters for the first time since he is office for hardly 11 months. Natural disasters also proved that the US President is on the wrong side on climate change since he backed out of the international climate change accord signed in Paris.
Natural hazards did not affect the United States this time alone. Countries in South Asia including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal also suffered untold miseries due to raging floods.
The writer is a retired diplomat from Bangladesh.
