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The Difference Between Texas and Puerto Rico Flood Responses

Hurricane Harvey was a category 4 tropical storm that made contact with land on August 17,2017. Estimated damage was about 125 billion dollars. After hurricane Harvey, the city of Houston received large amounts of aid and help from FEMA. More than 15 billion dollars in aid was approved by Congress. FEMA housed about 70,000 people in hotels and slowly that number declined to 47,000. Due to most housing units in Houston being insured, there were many insurance payouts. In fact, 608 million dollars were given in payouts. There were 107 confirmed casualties. Houston's developed facilities enabled the city to brace the impact of the storm and allow for minimal damage. The same cannot be said about Puerto Rico.





Hurricane Maria was a category 5 hurricane. It caused about 91.9 billion dollars in damages. It made contact with land on September 16, 2017. Puerto Rico received about 16 billion dollars in total aid with no plans of expanding that package. Electricity has not yet been restored to the Island and basic amenities such as drinking water are in short supply. There were no major insurance payouts due to the fact that most of the island’s housing units did not have insurance and the residents were not put up in hotels. It is estimated that due to Hurricane Maria, over 4,600 people have died in Puerto Rico.


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