With Hurricane Harvey wreaking havoc in Houston and Southeastern Texas, I reached out to my friend Ed Emmett. Ed is the Judge of Harris County and together with the mayor of Houston, they are responsible for directing the on the ground relief efforts.
Ed offered some insights about the current conditions and gave me permission to share his insights with our Two Minute Warning audience. Here's what I learned:
- First, they need a lot of prayer for the situation they're facing.
- Second, Hurricane Harvey will touch everybody! According to Ed, this may well be one of the greatest natural disasters our country has ever faced in our lifetimes - don't underestimate the scope of what's happening in Houston.
- Third, they will be organizing an effort to funnel donations to have the greatest impact, ensuring help goes to the right places.
When asked about why Hurricane Harvey will touch everybody, Ed noted that this natural disaster will have a significant impact on infrastructure and how we move goods throughout the United States. And based on articles about the Hurricane:
- About 16% of the nation’s refining capacity has been impacted by Harvey, and we currently have 2.5 million barrels of fuel offline. Therefore, we are expecting fuel prices to rise over the next 4-6 weeks.
- This could potentially impact as much as 10% of the trucking capacity in the country as resources and assets are dedicated to the relief efforts.
While this is the information we have for now, the situation is still developing and the long-term impact is not clear yet.
If you have any questions, please give us a call at 630-833-0890 or send us an email. We're on your team, we're here to help, and we're passionate about seeing you be successful.
