ContactRelief Recommends Resuming Contact With Certain Texas Counties Unaffected by Hurricane Harvey

ContactRelief is recommending that subscribers resume contact with consumers on the far western boundary of the Harvey contact suspension area as the storm turns southeast and aims for the Texas coast line. Contact should be resumed in the following Texas counties: Atascosa, Bexar, Brooks, Cameron, Comal, Duval, Hays, Hidalgo, Jim Wells, Kenedy, McMullen, Wilacy.

The ContactRelief Disaster Decision Engine team has monitored the effects of the storm since it was announced that Harvey, then a Tropical Depression in the Gulf of Mexico, would likely make landfall on the Texas coast. As the storm grew in intensity, we increased our surveillance efforts. Before landfall, Harvey grew into a Category 4 Hurricane. Harvey made landfall around 10 pm Friday, August 25th near Rockport, Texas. The storm caused catastrophic and historic damage to the Texas coast as it stalled out over land.

The counties we are resuming contact to were to the west of storm and did not suffer the damage experienced by the counties directly in the hurricane path, or to the east where significant rainfall occurred. All basic services are operational in the counties we are recommending for contact resumption. These counties did not experience Harvey’s hurricane force winds nor the torrential rains. For these reasons, we recommend resuming contact in these counties.

Approximately 3.3 million people live in the areas we are resuming today. ContactRelief will continue to monitor the situation as recovery efforts are increased over the coming days.