August 25: Hurricane Harvey Hammers Houston

[Music] [Applause] I have mentioned that there are two hurricanes that are equal to one another monetarily as the costliest of their kind in American history hi I'm Chris May writer producer and host of this day in weather history now in its second year from The Weather Network in Canada with that we jump headlong into a hurricane so destructive that it is equaled only by that of Hurricane Katrina of 05 this is the story of hurricane Harvey the story that leveled the Lone Star State when it hammered Houston on this day in weather history all right so on the August 23rd podcast we discussed the formation of Hurricane Katrina and don't forget on the 29th of this month we pick up part two when it made landfall in Louisiana Harvey was the eth named storm third hurricane and first major hurricane of the already extremely active 2017 Atlantic hurricane season developing initially from a tropical wave to the east of the ler and Tilles it assumed tropical storm status on August 17th Harvey began to weaken as it headed out now into the Caribbean Sea and degenerated into a tropical wave north of the country of Colombia on the 19th but Harvey was still under close observation for the likelihood that it could strengthen again and that was the right plan moving across the Caribbean and the Yucatan Peninsula in southern Mexico Harvey indeed did redevelop over the Bay of campiche on August 23rd then really ramped it up on the 24th regaining tropical storm status and becoming a hurricane later that day on August 25th 2017 this day in weather history hurricane Harvey continued North through the gulf and delivered a devastating gut punch as a category 4 hurricane that made landfall striking Texas and Louisiana it was the first major hurricane actually to make landfall in the United States since Wilma in 2005 now remember Wilma happened after Katrina in the alphabet and yes the fact that 2005 saw the letter W at all says all you need to know about how active that year was in weather history welcome to year 2 of this podcast right now you're listening to the full version of today's story on your favorite podcast podcast provider but there's also the daily podcast video short they're shot right here in my podcast recording studio so you get that perspective but often times they will include visuals from that day's event from when it happened in weather history so after listening to the whole story go check out the podcast video short on television or online anytime at the weathernetwork.com slwe history a particularly interesting fact that went un notied to many was that the US Coast had not had a classified major hurricane since then that was a 12year absence a standing record that in itself was incredible but now it was history the impact of Harvey was intense in a 4-day period many areas received more than 40 in of rain that's 1,000 mm or for those that experience heavy snowfall that's 100 cm of rain lasting images include freeways filled up with water like swimming pools all the way up to their High overhang signage in the Texas town of Netherland they took the record for rain totals when they recorded Peak accumulations of 6.58 in that is 1,539 MM hurricane Harvey was quite definitely at least the wetest tropical Cyclone on record in the United States but was it the most expensive and we're going to get to that the massive and widespread floods drowned hundreds of thousands of homes which displaced more than 30,000 people impr prompted more than 177,000 rescues from Cars on highways and rooftops in communities as far as the cost it is tied with 2005's Hurricane Katrina as the costliest tropical Cyclone on record ringing in at $125 billion in 2017 USD but unlike Katrina where most of that cost was attributed to the failing Levy systems Harvey's damage was primarily from the catastrophic rainfall triggered flooding in the Houston metropolitan area and Southeast Texas this has been the story of the powerful and punishing hurricane Harvey it made landfall as a category 4 storm on August 25th 2017 this day in weather history hey do you like the podcast we'd love to hear from you if you have an idea go right now to wherever you're listening to me and rate US if you would please it's on a five-star system and we would love as many stars as you can afford so rate US but then also review us this way we can always stay on top of how you'd like to see the show evolve then remember to subscribe to this podcast click the Subscribe or follow button right there on the very same podcast homepage you're listening on you'll be immediately reminded that the next day is ready to listen to and you also have access to every episode in the archives it dates back to June 1st of 2020 so there is a lot that we got to get caught up on on this day in weather history hey speaking of both baseball and the state of Texas tomorrow is August 26th and we're going to look back at a story that involves both the three hottest games on record for Major League Baseball all occurred when the Texas Rangers were hosting and the worst of it was when the visiting Toronto Blue Jays came to Arlington and the temperature was a nasty 109° F or 43° C this day in weather history with me your host and Big Time baseball fan Chris May