Harvey Forces Dozens Of Jewish Families From Homes As ‘Catastrophic’ Flooding Hits

Image by Getty Images
(JTA) — Some 150 neighborhood blocks in Houston that are home to members of the Jewish community have been damaged in floods as part of Hurricane Harvey.
Dozens of families were either evacuated or moved to the second floors of their homes, the local Jewish Family Service said during a conference call with community leaders, the Texas Jewish Herald-Voice reported.
Some of the families have flood insurance and others do not, according to the report. Many of the families affected by the floods also were flooded out in both 2016 and 2015.
The Evelyn Rubenstein JCC reported suffering flood damage. Prior to the hurricane it collected emergency supplies and will serve as a distribution center for the community. The Jewish Family Service also reported flood damage as did at least three Houston synagogues.
More rainfall and flooding are expected in the coming days.
The Jewish Federations of North America opened an emergency relief fund to support communities and individuals in Houston, San Antonio, Galveston, Corpus Christi and other areas that have been hammered by Hurricane Harvey.
The hurricane first made landfall on Friday evening near Corpus Christi, Texas, about 200 miles southwest of Houston.
On Monday morning the center of Harvey was entering the Gulf of Mexico, according to the National Hurricane Center, which warned that “Catastrophic and life-threatening flooding continues in southeastern Texas and flash flood emergencies are in effect for portions of this area.”
The update said that an additional 12 to 25 inches of rain are expected to accumulate through Friday over the upper Texascoast and into southwestern Louisiana, with some isolated areas receiving up to 50 inches of rain including the Houston/Galveston metropolitan area. It also warned of possible tornadoes over the next day. More than two feet of rain fell between late Saturday night and late Sunday night. City residents who were not in a safe place were evacuated from their homes by boats and helicopters. Many were taken to makeshift shelters since the emergency shelters prepared for the natural disaster proved to not be enough.
Houston’s two main airports reportedly suspended commercial flights and two hospitals evacuated their patients. Freeways throughout the city were under water with some flood waters nearly reaching the bottom of road signs.
At least three people have been confirmed dead in the flooding.
President Donald Trump will visit the stricken area on Tuesday, his spokesperson said.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a Passover gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion My Jewish moms group ousted me because I work for J Street. Is this what communal life has come to?
- 2
News Student protesters being deported are not ‘martyrs and heroes,’ says former antisemitism envoy
- 3
Fast Forward Suspected arsonist intended to beat Gov. Josh Shapiro with a sledgehammer, investigators say
- 4
News Who is Alan Garber, the Jewish Harvard president who stood up to Trump over antisemitism?
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward Dozens of members of UK’s largest Jewish group sign letter condemning war in Gaza
-
Culture Actor Ben Platt says his Jewish identity is ‘not defined’ by Israel, showing a gap between him and his influential family
-
Fast Forward Shapiro house fire suspect targeted Jewish governor over pro-Israel stances, search warrant says
-
Fast Forward Jewish family killed in New York plane crash
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.