Harvey Relief: A Timeline Of How J.J. Watt's Relief Fund Went From $100K To $27 Million

HOUSTON, TX — What started as a hearty donation by Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt has snowballed into an unbelievable national effort. Watt's online donation drive that began with $100,000 has topped $27 million in a little more than a week, and the contributions keep coming to provide some relief in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey.

Hurricane Harvey slammed Rockport and the Texas Coastal Bend as a Category 4 storm on Friday, Aug. 25 at nightfall, leveling most of the area. By Saturday (Aug. 26) it downgraded into a tropical storm and sat over the greater Houston area for four days, dumping more than 50 inches of rain in some areas, and the entire region was under water.

On Sunday, Aug. 27, Watt launched an online fundraising effort and dropped $100,000 to get it rolling. He posted it on Twitter and set a goal of $200,000. It was reached in less than two hours. He sent a tweet to the YouCaring crowdfunding website saying, "I think we may have broken the website. Can you please help so that we can raise as much money as possible for these folks?"

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Here is where you can donate to Watt's relief fund. By Wednesday afternoon, more than 190,000 donations totaled $27.4 million and it was still growing. Here is a timeline of how the donations kept pouring in:

August 28

Chris Paul, the newest Houston Rockets star, donated $50,000 to put the fund at more than $500,000. The new goal goes to $1,000,000.

The fund tops $800,000 within the first 26 hours and Watt makes a statement: "The compassion & generosity of people in times of need is truly remarkable. We must keep going!"

That same day, the fund tops $1 million with a new goal of $1.5 million.

August 29

Watt tweets that the goal has been reached, and later that day the fund tops $2 million and then $3 million. The Tennessee Titans football team, which is an AFC South rival, chipped in with $1 million.

By the end of the day, the fund was at $4.5 million.

August 30

The campaign was really picking up steam by now and the fund reached a new million-dollar mark every other hour. The Ellen DeGeneres show was quite generous with a $1 million pledge. The day ended with more than $8.5 million in the account.

August 31

On the day the Texans were to play the Dallas Cowboys — a preseason game that got canceled — the fund shot to $12 million, which meant $4 million raised on a Thursday.

September 1-2

$5 million got raised over these two days, bringing the overall amount to $17 million.

September 3

Watt and many of the Houston Texans players showed up to help with supplies at four different shelters, and the overall fund rose to $18.5 million. The goal was raised yet again.

Watch: Texans Players Donate Truckloads Of Aid Sunday, September 3

September 4-5

Jimmy Fallon donated $1 million and inspired more people to donate, and the fund reached more than $20 million.

September 6

The biggest day yet came today as Mr. Charles Butt of H-E-B donated $5 million to get the fund at $27 million.

$27.4 million is a lot of money that will go directly to relief, but it's not even a drop in the bucket in helping rescue, recover and repair a region that's still trying to heal. To put the amount raised in perspective, FEMA estimates the total cost of Hurricane Harvey at $180 billion.

To donate to Watt's fund online, you can visit www.youcaring.com.

Top image: Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt places a box of relief supplies in the back of a vehicle to people impacted by Hurricane Harvey on Sunday, Sept. 3, 2017, in Houston. Watt's Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund has raised millions of dollars to help those affected by the storm.

Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP, Pool