Hurricane Harvey was a hurricane that made landfall near Rockport, Texas (northeast of Corpus Christi) around 9:45 p.m. on August 25, 2017. The storm had a devastating impact on the Houston area, largely due to massive flooding, which resulted in the deaths of over 40 people and the displacement of more than 30,000 residents, over 17,000 of whom had to be rescued by authorities and volunteers.

What category was Hurricane Harvey? At its strongest, Hurricane Harvey was a Category 4 hurricane, with winds reaching 130 mph when it first made landfall near Rockport. It was downgraded to a Category 3 when it made landfall again on the northeast shore of Copano Bay. Harvey was the first major hurricane to hit the United States in 12 years. Before Harvey, the last hurricane to make landfall in the states was Hurricane Wilma in 2005.

How much rain did Hurricane Harvey produce? Hurricane Harvey produced over 40 inches of rain in many sections of the Houston area, some places recording nearly 52 inches of water, making it the “wettest tropical cyclone on record in the contiguous United States.” The catastrophic water levels displaced tens of thousands of residents, while the winds and rain left more than 211,000 without power. Estimates of the potential costs of the damage caused by Hurricane Harvey top $100 billion.