'Resilience of faith': Pence visits Rockport church to mark Harvey anniversary, arrives in Houston
Aaron Barker, Senior Digital Editor
Ryan Korsgard
ROCKPORT, Texas – Vice President Mike Pence visited Rockport Wednesday morning to mark the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Harvey. He landed in Houston Wednesday afternoon.
Saturday will be a year since Harvey made landfall near Rockport with winds of more than 130 mph, leveling homes and upending the lives of thousands.
Pence spent Wednesday visiting the First Baptist Church of Rockport, which was badly damaged during the storm. One year later, the church has been rebuilt.
“A resilience of faith on full display,” Pence said as he looked over photos placed outside the church of the building before and after the storm. “It’s very inspiring.”
“To see the way this community came together, and to see the way a church and a community, in the midst of a historic hurricane, came alongside neighbors that were in need,” the vice president said.
That sentiment was echoed by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott who was with Pence during his tour.
“Without the help of average, everyday Texans, we wouldn’t be where we are now,” Abbott said.
The most powerful hurricane to hit the United States in a decade made landfall north of Corpus, Christi, Texas, late Friday as a Category 4 storm. Hurricane Harvey was downgraded to a tropical storm Saturday afternoon as rain continued to pummel the southeast part of the state. Here's a look at the damage so far.Early Saturday, Rockport appeared to have been the hardest hit.Hurricane Harvey slammed directly into the coastal Texas city Rockport overnight Friday to Saturday, knocking down trees and signs, bending utility poles in half like toothpicks, and blowing out the windows of police cars.In addition, a hotel wall fell in, the high school suffered major damage, and business and homes suffered "catastrophic damage," Rockport Mayor Charles Wax said. "There's been widespread devastation," he said.A damaged home is seen after Hurricane Harvey passed through Rockport, Texas, on Saturday.A damaged home is seen after Hurricane Harvey passed through on Saturday in Rockport.Terry Smith stands in the kitchen as Henry McKay sleeps in the apartment whose ceiling collapsed when the storm hit in RockportA Rockport firefighter goes door to door on a search and rescue mission as he looks for people that may need help on Saturday.Steve Culver cries with his dog Otis after surviving what he said was the "most terrifying event" in his life when Hurricane Harvey blew in and destroyed most of his home in Rockport.Jessica Campbell hugs Jonathan Fitzgerald after riding out Hurricane Harvey in an apartment in Rockport on Saturday.An apartment complex in Rockport was destroyed.Valerie Brown walks through a flooded area after leaving the apartment that she rode out Hurricane Harvey in Rockport, Texas.Donna Raney makes her way out of the wreckage of her home as Daisy Graham tells her she will help her out of the window after Hurricane Harvey destroyed an apartment building in Rockport.Buildings were seen torn apart as rain continued to fall over the weekend in Victoria, Texas.Aransas County Judge Burt Mills confirmed Saturday that one person in Rockport had died in a house fire during the storm. He said damage to the coastal city was "shocking."A vehicle navigates a street flooded by rain in Galveston, Texas.Residents walk along a street flooded by rain from Tropical Storm Harvey in Galveston, Texas.Rain from Hurricane Harvey batters the downtown area on Saturday in Houston. By early Sunday, a second fatality had been confirmed. A woman drove her vehicle into high water, got out of her car, was overtaken by water and drowned, city police said.The head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency said Sunday his agency is already gearing up for a years-long effort to help Texas recover from the damage wrought by Hurricane Harvey. "FEMA is going to be there for years," Brock Long said.More than 24 inches of rain fell in 24 hours in Houston, the National Weather Service reported Sunday morning.Florida and New York City are sending emergency workers and equipment to Texas. "After Superstorm Sandy, so many cities stepped up to help our people. We'll do all we can to help those affected by this storm," New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Twitter.Rescue workers in Houston renewed search efforts Sunday morning for residents trapped in their homes by Tropical Storm Harvey's rising floodwaters.People evacuate their homes in a Houston neighborhood Sunday.Volunteers and officers from the neighborhood security patrol help to rescue residents in Houston's River Oaks neighborhood.Andrew White helps a neighbor down the street after rescuing her from her home in his boat Sunday in the upscale River Oaks neighborhood of Houston after it was flooded by Tropical Storm Harvey.Two people chased from their homes by Tropical Storm Harvey use a Jetski to navigate the flooded streets in Houston.
The most powerful hurricane to hit the United States in a decade made landfall north of Corpus, Christi, Texas, late Friday as a Category 4 storm. Hurricane Harvey was downgraded to a tropical storm Saturday afternoon as rain continued to pummel the southeast part of the state. Here's a look at the damage so far.
Pence said the visit has left him feeling confident in the state’s ability to bounce back from Harvey.
“It’s hard to come today and not be inspired,” Pence said.
Later in the day, the vice president, along with Rep. John Culberson, arrived in Houston, where Pence will speak Thursday at the Johnson Space Center.
During Pence's Rockport briefing, FEMA shared the numbers the agency calculated during and after Harvey.
Harvey by the Numbers:
(Source: FEMA)
132
The MPH winds recorded in Port Aransas during the category 4 hurricane and dumped up to 60 inches of rain.
41
Forty-one of 53 Texas counties designated disaster areas. In the days after landfall, communities did what they could to recover. During his remarks, Vice President Pence said, "Thank you for your inspiring example. You truly inspired the nation. Think of the devastating hurricane that came ashore and the way that this community responded. People across Texas responded. Volunteers all across America and in some cases all across the world came alongside."
41,500
That's the number of square miles of land impacted. Governor Abbott said the recovery from the devastation is thanks, in large part, to Texans helping Texans. He said, “We would not be here without the resilience, without the heart, without the commitment of our fellow Texans.”
12
The millions of cubic yards of storm debris were hauled away.
$13.82
That's the billions of dollars FEMA says it has distributed to survivors in Texas. Pence said this is just the beginning. He said, "This administration is going to work with this governor, with all of the wonderful and outstanding volunteers and faith communities across this region until we rebuild Rockport and all of TX bigger and better than ever before."
294
Shelters opened across the state. This is something Pence says the federal government is prepared to help with as Hurricane Lane approaches Hawaii. Pence requested, "I encourage you to pray for our fellow Americans in Hawaii as this hurricane approaches."
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