With winds up to 130 miles per hour and unrelenting ‎rainfall for almost a week,  the category-4 Hurricane Harvey brought major flooding to heavily populated cities in Southeast Texas as well as the destruction of many Gulf Coast cities.

Hurricane Harvey directed its path through the coastal cities of Rockport and Port Aransas, Texas, majorly affecting the cities of Corpus Christi and Houston as well, and continued traveling to the Northwest before finally turning back East towards the gulf and directly over Houston. Many East Texas cities, including Rockport, Port A, Corpus Christi, Houston and Galveston, experienced massive rainfall up to 52 inches and flooding during the course of the hurricane’s stay and now have begun the long steps to recovery.

The Cedar Park High School football booster club is doing their part and stepping up to help the victims of Harvey. On Thursday, Aug. 31 the booster club accepted donations during the first freshmen home football game to help relief efforts from the hurricane.

“We accept pretty much anything and everything, blankets, food, water, first aid stuff,” booster club member Ben Bretz said. “We’ve nearly filled half of the trailer already, and this is just a freshmen game. I’m planning on bringing two or three more [trailers] for tomorrow.”

The booster club will also be attending and taking donations at Cedar Park High School’s first varsity home game on Friday, Sept. 1.

“We’re just so proud of the Cedar Park community,” Bretz said. “I contacted a few people on Facebook, but I was very surprised with the outcome tonight.”

Others, such as the Environmental Club, are helping out in different ways. During the week of Sept. 4 the club will be hosting a donation drive for Austin Pets Alive.

“[Austin Pets Alive] is evacuating animals who were left behind to safe areas with no-kill shelters,” environmental club sponsor Shannon McPherson said. “As many pets as they can take in, they are.”

The Environmental Club will be accepting donations of various animal toys and supplies including dog crates, towels, food bowls and cat food to support animals affected by the hurricane all week long at room S108.

“It’s not just people who were affected,” McPherson said. “It’s also all the animals and pets.”

Recovery efforts are underway across the country, including local Houston football star J.J. Watt, who began fundraising on the website youcaring.com, raising over $10 million in the process. In a series of tweets from the famous defensive lineman, Watt shared the progress of the fundraising effort and how proud he is of the generosity of the people who have donated.

“Recovery efforts from Hurricane Harvey will be massive,” Watt said in a tweet on Aug. 28. “We must come together to help rebuild our communities.”

The Red Cross is also accepting donations towards hurricane relief efforts and mobilized a massive relief force along the gulf coast. The Red Cross has been a part of many efforts of relief including search and rescue efforts, communication between impacted families and family members and offering shelter to those whose homes were either destroyed or damaged.

“This is a dangerous storm and the next few days are going to challenge everyone along the Gulf Coast,” vice president of Disaster Services Operations and Logistics for the Red Cross Brad Kieserman said in an article posted by the Red Cross. “This is the time for folks to come together to support one another.”

Donations to the Red Cross’s Hurricane Harvey relief efforts can be submitted at www.redcross.org.