The outer bands of Hurricane Harvey reached Texas Friday night, and New Jersey volunteers have been preparing to head there to help with relief.
New Jersey members of the American Red Cross are already on the ground as the Category 4 storm started to impact the Gulf of Texas.
“They’ll be helping in the shelters. They will be helping to plan for the relief efforts,” says Ana Contero, of Central New Jersey Red Cross. “They will be helping with logistics.”
Contero says that volunteers started leaving Thursday. She says that 10 volunteers have already left to help bring relief to storm victims.
Harvey is expected to bring a 12-foot storm surge and 40 inches of rain in some locations.
Some have speculated that Harvey may drive up gas prices in New Jersey because the path of the storm may impact oil rigs and refineries. Some of the refineries have already shut down production as a precaution.
But experts say that the increase is not expected to be significant or last long.