Hurricane Harvey: 1,000-year-old Texas oak tree survives deadly storm

The Big Tree at Goose Island State Park is still standing

The Big Tree at Goose Island State Park is over 1,000 years old (Texas Parks and Wildlife)

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.