This was a total disaster for the Houston area! We have never seen such a wonderful outpouring of community/people support for the tens of thousands of victims of Hurricane Harvey. First responders, including Police, Texas National Guard, US Coast Guard and literally thousands of people with their own boats! They were out even at the height of the storm, bringing people out of their flooded homes, in fishing boats, kayaks, canoes and airboats! #HoustonStrong Thousands of Houstonians have lost their homes, cars, offices and jobs, and the death toll is now predicted to go over 50 people. We are very happy to say that our offices and homes of all members of Team WorldFest are safe and dry. It will take weeks, months and perhaps even years to fully recover from this incredible disaster, now listed as the most expensive natural disaster in US History. Thankfully, the death toll is relatively low. The 51st WorldFest has already received a record number of international entries to-date, and we expect it to break last year's record number of entries! Our offices are up and running, power and A/C is full and fine, and our website has never gone down. We do want to personally thank the hundreds of friends of WorldFest all over the world, who have checked in to see how we were all doing. We had no flooding in our homes and apartments, though the flood came within 500 feet. Our offices are totally high and dry, though we did close for a few days to wait out the storm. We did have lots of food, red wine and Gin & Tonics, so all went well! Please do consider helping the victims of this terrible disaster. Our team has very carefully researched all the charities via Guidestar, and we do recommend the following charities for your support - they are all on the ground in the Houston area and helping Now: Samaritan's Purse Team Rubicon PetSmart Charities |