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Hilary Duff's goddaughter escaped Hurricane Harvey flooding on canoe

Written by . Published: September 08 2017

Hilary Duff is anxious to reunite with her family in Texas after one relative escaped the deadly Hurricane Harvey floods by using a canoe to get her kids to safety.


Thousands of homes were severely damaged in late August (17) when the huge storm made landfall in Texas and then barrelled through Louisiana, dumping record levels of rain along the way.

Hilary's loved ones were among those caught up in the deadly hurricane, and the Houston native is thankful they all managed to make it to safety.

"My whole family is there," she told People.com. "My dad is there, my aunt and uncle, my cousin, my cousin's kids. My goddaughter evacuated out of her house on a canoe with her two babies."

In an essay for MarieClaire.com, published on Friday (08Sep17), Hilary admitted she felt helpless watching the news unfold from her base in Los Angeles, but there was little she could do.

"Being so many miles away from home and watching the news about Hurricane Harvey from sunny California feels completely unjust," she wrote, explaining her relatives are surviving on scraps of food.

"Did my dad really call to tell me that they're running low on food and had to eat chocolate chip cookies for dinner?," she added.

Hilary goes on to reflect on the resilience of those affected by the natural disaster and the thousands of others volunteering and donating to help out, branding them all "heroes" as they work to "defeat this unimaginable challenge".

She ends her essay by urging readers to "help them, and help each other", and during her chat with People.com, she also shared her plans to return to Texas and help locals rebuild in the near future.

"I can't wait to go back and do relief work and get my hands dirty," she said, "but I think a lot of water needs to clear out (first)."

Celebrities like Sandra Bullock, Leonardo DiCaprio, Miley Cyrus, Drake, and Pink have made sizeable donations to help the relief effort, while George Clooney, Beyonce, Oprah Winfrey, and Julia Roberts, among others, are set to take part in a U.S. telethon on Tuesday (12Sep17) to boost funds and raise money for those in the path of Hurricane Irma, which is expected to hit Florida on Sunday (10Sep17).

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