Hurricane Harvey: 1,000-year-old Texas oak tree survives deadly storm
The Big Tree at Goose Island State Park is still standing
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A 1,000-year-old oak tree has been found still standing in a Texas state park after Hurricane Harvey caused devastation in the area.
At least 30 people have died since Hurricane Harvey made landfall on Friday. More than 30 inches of rainfall has caused severe flooding and forced thousands of people out of their homes, seeking shelter in relief centres and local churches.
The Texas Parks and Wildlife department has been conducting search and rescue efforts with other first responders throughout the weekend as the dangerous flooding continues.
In just the first 24 hours, the department’s staff had already performed over 1,000 water rescues while more than 3,000 hurricane survivors are staying in Texas State Parks, the department said.
A total of 27 state parks have been closed due to the hurricane, including one houses the 1,000-year-old oak, which staff found was unharmed by the storm.
Goose Island State Park’s is one of the biggest living oak trees in America. Known as the Big Tree, it has a circumference of 35 feet and 1.75 inches and an average trunk diameter of 11 feet and 2.25 inches. It is 44 feet high and has a crown spread of 89 feet.
Hurricane Harvey has now been downgraded to a tropical storm since it first hit Texas and has now made landfall in western Louisiana, where between 13cm and 25cm of rain could now fall.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments