Getting a first look at a tropical cyclone from space is a breathtaking experience. Just ask NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik.
Seeing one from the International Space Station, Bresnik admired the immensity of the weather phenomenon that one can only appreciate from more than 200 miles above the Earth. “Wow this thing is beautiful with clouds radiating out of it,” the retired Marine recalled thinking.
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As a member of two expeditions aboard the ISS in 2017, part of Bresnik’s mission was to collect weather data, among several other research projects, and also conduct maintenance and outreach. Last year was particularly active for cyclones, which are known as hurricanes in the Atlantic and Northeast Pacific, with 17 named storms, 10 hurricanes and six major hurricanes.
But as awe-inspiring as it was to see an immense low-pressure system cover a large swath of the planet, witnessing one make its way toward home can be a troubling experience.
Last year, when Hurricane Harvey swept into the Houston area where Bresnik lives with his wife and kids, he said the experience “becomes less beautiful — loses its luster.”
“We were pretty useless to our families,” Bresnik said in a phone conversation with the Washington Examiner.
While he couldn’t be there for his family, the ISS crew did play a role in finding where the flooding was located.
“We were able to give data they couldn’t get anywhere else,” Bresnik said, describing how they were able take photos at a several angles and helped forecasters update their models.
Dubbed the “most significant tropical cyclone rainfall event in United States history” by the National Hurricane Center, Harvey dumped rainfall at record levels, causing mass flooding. With 36 to 48 inches recorded in the Houston metro area, thousands of homes were flooded and residents were forced to evacuate.
Bresnik shared some photos taken aboard the ISS on Twitter after Harvey hit Houston. “My home, Houston … forever changed. God bless all those from Houston or elsewhere who are helping our fellow Texans in their time of need,” he said in one tweet.
The recovery in the year since the storm hit has been marked by several generous charitable efforts, including by Houston Texans star J.J. Watt, who helped raise $41.6 million, which is a record for a crowd-sourced fundraising effort. But while people in some neighborhoods have been able to pick up the pieces of their homes, others, particularly in low-income areas, have struggled to get the relief they need as the recovery effort stretches into the summer of 2018.
Though the recovery in Houston continues to this day, when Bresnik returned to Earth in December he was impressed with the “night and day difference” compared to the images of widespread devastation he recalled seeing after Hurricane Katrina.
“This place looks amazing,” he remembered thinking of Houston, adding that it was “a good testament to recovery efforts.”
