Hurricane Harvey's Unprecedented Floods Strand Animals, Too

RUNGE, TX — Professional storm chaser Aaron Jayjack called the soggy dog that hopped into his Jeep Saturday “Harvey,” after the unprecedented storm that trapped Texans on their rooftops and turned their streets into raging rivers. Hurricane Harvey hit landfall as a Category 4 storm Friday, and though downgraded to Tropical Storm Harvey, it is deadlier than ever as it swamps Houston and the surrounding area with what could be 50 inches of rain before it’s over later this week.

But the dog’s name is actually Cash, and he’s being reunited with his owner, thanks to the power of social media. Jayjack broadcast an urgent plea on Twitter to find the owner of the dog that found him when he stopped for gas in Runge, Texas, Saturday. He was driving from Victoria to Austin, where he planned to pick up his own dogs from a boarder.

As Jayjack describes it, “this guy was following me down the road, and when I stopped, he jumped into the Jeep.” (Click here to find your local Texas Patch and sign up for newsletters and real-time news alerts on Tropical Storm Harvey and other news. Also, if you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

Harvey Still Expected To Cause More Damage

See Also: Hurricane Harvey: Houston Flooding Kills 5, ‘Beyond Anything’ Weather Officials Have Seen

“I really need help trying to find this guy’s owner,” Jayjack said in his original video tweet, urging people to share his video on their social media networks. Followers obliged, affecting a happy ending for the lost dog.

Though serious, there was some levity in the plight of animals in historic flooding, which the National Weather Service officials described as “beyond anything” they’ve ever seen.

In the Gulf Coast town of Sinton, Texas, located about 190 miles southwest of Houston, a Facebook user posted a photo of Otis, a dog that was walking around town carrying a bag of dog food in his mouth. Otis’ owner has been found.

Thousands of pets and livestock were threatened by the storm, and animal welfare advocates warned people in the path of Harvey to make provisions for their pets before the storm made landfall at Rockport, where at least one person died.

Image via Aaron Jayjack Twitter video