Students assemble care packages
DOUGLASS (BERKS) » Students Pine Forge Academy joined with students from Blue Mountain Academy, Jesse R. Wagner Academy and Reading Junior Academy, to assemble more than 9,650 care packages for the victims of Hurricane Harvey.
The event was organized with the help of Seventh Day Adventists Disaster Response Services and comes as the U.S. is staggering from a second major hurricane in Florida.
• According to the Associated Press, at least 77 deaths have been attributed to Hurricane Harvey.
• The Federal Emergency Management Agency has approved individual assistance for residents affected by Harvey in 39 counties in southern Texas, with 35 reporting sustaining damage.
• At the height of Harvey, more than 34,500 people were housed in shelters throughout Texas. In Houston, the George R. Brown Convention Center housed more than 10,000 at one point. Currently, more than 21,200 people are in shelters, including more than 9,200 in the Dallas area.
• State and federal agencies conducted more than 122,300 rescues and evacuations. Those included more than 34,000 by the Texas National Guard and other state military forces and more than 11,000 by the U.S. Coast Guard. In Houston, the police department helped perform more than 5,000 water rescues.
• More than 660,200 individuals have applied for federal assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. FEMA has approved more than 204,200 individual applications, totaling more than $216 million in assistance.
• More than $320 million has been donated to help people affected by Harvey. The American Red Cross said it has raised $211 million. The Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund, set up by Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and Harris County Judge Ed Emmett, has raised more than $37 million.
• A fund set up by the Houston Texans’ J.J. Watt has raised more than $29 million. The United Way has raised more than $26.9 million. The Salvation Army has raised more than $19.2 million.