Texas residents are still reeling from the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. The powerful storm plowed into the state’s southeastern coast in late August, bringing heavy rains that caused devastating flooding. Dozens of people died, and thousands had to evacuate their homes as floodwaters rose.
While most storms keep moving and weaken once they reach land, Harvey got caught between other weather systems. It lingered in the same spot for days, dropping more than 50 inches of rain in some places.
This record-breaking rainfall caused the National Weather Service (NWS) to update its color-coded maps. The previous scale used dark purple to show rainfall of 15 inches and higher. Because of Harvey, the NWS added two new colors to the scale: bright purple for 20 to 30 inches and lavender for more than 30 inches.
Houston, America’s fourth-largest city, was hit especially hard. Roads and neighborhoods flooded. Hundreds of thousands of homes lost power. Texans will spend years rebuilding. “We’ll get through it,” says Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo.