As Tropical Storm Harvey continues to dump historic levels of rain across Houston, thousands of residents have been displaced from their homes. …
As Tropical Storm Harvey continues to dump historic levels of rain across Houston, thousands of residents have been displaced from their homes.
Multiple shelters have been set up to accommodate flooding victims. And by Sunday, people on social media began asking one of Houston’s largest megachurches, Lakewood Church, and its leader, Joel Osteen, to offer shelter from those displaced by the storm.
WHERE TO GO: Here is the full list of shelters in the Houston area during Harvey
The church, which was once Houston’s Compac Center, can house more than 16,000 people at a single time.
It is currently unclear if the church was damaged or flooded during the storm. Chron.com has reached out to the church through multiple channels to get updates on the status of the church.
HELPING HAND: How you can help victims of Hurricane Harvey
On Sunday evening, Lakewood Church, Joel and Victoria Osteen all tweeted to raise money toward Samaritan’s Purse, which is an organization that raises funds to help communities in natural disasters like Harvey, but no word on whether they would open the former Compac Center’s doors.
On the Lakewood Church website, a post was shared to promote the fundraising efforts for Samaritan’s Purse saying in part:
« Over the last couple of days, as the enormity of this storm was being realized, we have been working to organize relief efforts for the Houston area with our friend Franklin Graham and the disaster relief organization that he oversees, Samaritan’s Purse. Samaritan’s Purse has been, since its inception, organized to respond to situations just like Hurricane Harvey, and we are grateful to be able to partner with them to provide assistance to the Houston area.
Chron.com will update you if they reach out to us for comment or if they decide to open their church up to house victims.
