The pay TV industry rallied in the aftermath of the havoc wreaked byHurricane Harveyin several communities in Texas and Louisiana, donating time and money to help victims of the massive flooding and devastation in those states.
At last count, cable operators, telcos and programmers, raised several million dollars to help the relief efforts, including $10 million from Verizon Communications.
Harvey made landfallon Aug. 25 in Southern Texas, a Category 4 storm with winds as high as 130 miles per hourdumping more than 50 inches of rainon Houston, Texas and several other communities in the state. The storm, downgraded to Tropical Storm status by Aug. 26, has moved into Louisiana and is considerably less powerful, with winds gusting at about 45 mph. At last count, the storm has claimed at least 31 lives and left thousands homeless. The damage is expected to be in the many billions of dollars. AccuWeather on Thursday estimated it could be the most damaging natural disaster in U.S. history at $190 billion.
Cable operators, telcos, networks and entertainment icons alike have donated time and money to help in the recovery efforts. According to reports, entertainment and sports personalities have also pitched in, with Houston Texans defensive endJ.J. Watt raising more than $10 millionfor recovery efforts. TV and movie personalities likeEllen Degeneres, Leonardo DiCaprio,Sandra Bullock, comedian Kevin Hart, Kim Kardashian, Houston native Beyoncé and others have personally donated funds to help victims.
For more, including a rundown of the support offered by the pay TV industry, go to multichannel.com.
(Photo via theNational Guard’s flickrand taken by Lt. Zachary West, 100th MPAD. Image uploaded on Aug. 27, 2017 and used per aCreative Commons 2.0 license. The image was cropped to fit the 16x9 aspect ratio.)
