Kardashians giving $500,000 to Hurricane Harvey relief effort

Kim Kardashian and her family have donated $500,000 to charities in Texas to aid the Hurricane Harvey relief effort.

The reality TV star, sisters Khloe, Kendall, Kylie and Kourtney, and their mom Kris Jenner, have handed the money to bosses at The Red Cross and The Salvation Army.

Announcing the news on social media on Tuesday (29Aug17), Kris wrote: "My daughters & I are donating $500k to Houston disaster relief to help those affected by #HurricaneHarvey #RedCross #SalvationArmy."

Kim added: "Houston we are praying for you! My mom, sisters & I will be donating $500,000 to @redcross and @salvationarmyus today #HoustonStrong."

The family donation is one of many made by celebrities including Beyonce, Jennifer Lopez, DJ Khaled, Drake, Dwayne Johnson, and Nicki Minaj following Kevin Hart's online video plea to his peers to dig deep and donate to Texas relief efforts.

According to storm statisticians at America's National Weather Service, Texas has never seen a storm like the category four Hurricane Harvey - some areas have had almost 50 inches of rain dumped since Friday night (25Aug17).

This breaks the record of 48 inches set in Medina, Texas, from Hurricane Amelia in 1978. The rain levels also come close to the all-time national rainfall record from a tropical cyclone, which was 52 inches in Hawaii from Hurricane Hiki in 1950.

Houston natives like Beyonce and Paul Wall have been hard hit by the storm news from their home state - the new mom has pledged to help "as many as we can" after learning more than 30,000 people have been forced to leave their homes as flood water rises.

"My heart goes out to my hometown, Houston, and I remain in constant prayer for those affected and for the rescuers who have been so brave and determined to do so much to help," she said in a statement.

"I am working closely with my team at (charity) BeyGOOD as well as my pastor (Rudy Rasmus at St. John's in downtown Houston) to implement a plan to help as many as we can."

Rapper Wall says, "Some people lost everything; their life savings, all their clothes, possessions... It's sad. We definitely weren't expecting it to be this bad... Our thoughts and prayers are with everybody."

And hip-hop heavyweight Baby Bash, who is stuck in Houston amid the storm, adds, "It's, like, a biblical, historical flood."

In his call to action on Monday (28Aug17), comedian Hart said, "Anybody right now who is in a powerful position where we can impact this issue through social media, let's go. Let's all push a button, let's help. Let's really really try to save some lives."

He later added, "This is a serious moment right now."

Meanwhile, Disney bosses are also digging deep - they have pledged $1 million to the hurricane relief effort.

Company chairman and CEO Bob Iger says, "Our hearts go out to everyone in the devastating path of this historic storm. It's hard to fully appreciate the impact, in part because it isn't over yet. But we know thousands of people have lost everything and now face the daunting challenge of putting their lives and communities back together, and we're using our unique resources and reach to help those in need."