“The water kept rising and rising, halfway onto my bed, and that’s when I started having panic attacks. I called my best friend and I told him that I thought I was going to die, I told him ‘If I don’t make it, know that I love you. Tell everybody I love them.’ Houston wasn’t ready for this, they underestimated the power of this hurricane.”

Yasin “Sin” Sensaliver

“The water kept rising and rising, halfway onto my bed, and that’s when I started having panic attacks. I called my best friend and I told him that I thought I was going to die, I told him ‘If I don’t make it, know that I love you. Tell everybody I love them.’ Houston wasn’t ready for this, they underestimated the power of this hurricane.”
Photograph by William Widmer, Redux for National Geographic

Portraits of Resilience and Hope After Harvey

Our photographer talked to Texas residents who are still seeking shelter after Hurricane Harvey.

Published September 5, 2017

Some 40,000 people are now in shelters across Texas, Louisiana, and Tennessee in the wake of Hurricane Harvey. Photographer William Widmer traveled to the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, chronicling some of those stories for National Geographic.

The Category 4 storm hit Houston and the surrounding region August 25, bringing intense flooding. It dropped a historic amount of rainfall—more than 50 inches—partly because it remained stationary, pulling in moisture from the Gulf of Mexico. At least 60 deaths have been linked to the storm. (See also: Pictures Reveal Hurricane Harvey's Catastrophic Destruction)

Beyond the thousands currently in shelters, many more will need help rebuilding. The Federal Emergency Management Agency says more than 500,000 people

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