J.J. Watt Raises A 'Surreal' Amount Of Money For Harvey Victims

Carla Herreria

J.J. Watt of the NFL’s Houston Texans has officially closed his wildly successful fundraiser for the victims of catastrophic Hurricane Harvey ― and his final tally is incredible.

In less than three weeks, Watt has raised more than $37 million on the crowdfunding site YouCaring.com. His initial goal was $200,000, and he started the campaign by personally donating $100,000.

“There are not enough words to thank you all for your generosity,” Watt wrote in a final message on his fundraising page. “When times are the toughest, humanity stands at its strongest and you have all helped to prove that emphatically.”

The defensive end promised that “every dollar” would be “put to work for the people in the devastated areas in and around Houston.”

This is what “every dollar” looked like as of 11:30 p.m. EDT:

Screenshot of Watt's YouCaring fundraiser site. (Photo: YouCaring)
Screenshot of Watt's YouCaring fundraiser site. (Photo: YouCaring)

After it was clear that Hurricane Harvey had devastated Houston and the surrounding areas of southeast Texas, Watt jumped into action and launched a fundraising campaign Aug. 27.

Fans and friends of the NFL star quickly poured their money into the fundraising campaign, causing Watt to up the goal multiple times. Within the first hours, he had pushed it up to $500,000. Then it became $1 million, $2 million, then $10 million and so on.

People were donating so fast it created glitches on YouCaring’s website, and CEO Dan Saper had to assure people that his engineers were working to fix lag times on the site.

“The response here has been surreal,” Saper wrote in a comment on Watt’s page. “Due to everyone’s overwhelming generosity and the amount of traffic going to this page, you may experience intermittent donation issues. Please bear with us.”

Watt isn’t the only famous person to raise money for Harvey victims. President Donald Trump and actress Sandra Bullock handed over $1 million each; Michael Dell, CEO of Dell Inc., coughed up $36 million; and Miley Cyrus, Jennifer Lopez and baseball star Aaron Rodriguez have thrown in their own money, too.

But Watt’s effort appears to be the most successful crowdfunding of Harvey donations run by a single person.

And the victims of Harvey need all that they can get.

Harvey slammed into Texas as a Category 4 hurricane and brought with it catastrophic flooding and unprecedented damage to the area.

At least 60 people are feared to have been killed as a result of the storm. And hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced. Officials warn that recovery efforts could take years.

With $37,132,157 in his fundraising pot, Watt is working to decide which organizations would benefit most from the money.

Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt closes his fundraiser for Hurricane Harvey victims with more than $37 million. (Photo: Mike Blake / Reuters)
Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt closes his fundraiser for Hurricane Harvey victims with more than $37 million. (Photo: Mike Blake / Reuters)

“I’m meeting with organizations and people that are in Houston, because we’re trying to make sure the money stays in Houston and the surrounding areas and it goes directly to the people, not to overhead cost,” the NFL star said Thursday.

“I’m working with organizations and I’m going to get the best organizations in each category that I want to help,” Watt added. “Things like rebuilding houses. Things like food. Things like schools for the kids. Making sure that we take care of all these different areas.”

Hats off to Watt for his brilliantly executed fundraiser ― and hats off to all those who donated to Harvey’s victims.

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A volunteer from Texas A&M University helps to clean up flood damage in the house of an alumnus in Houston on Sept. 2.
A volunteer from Texas A&M University helps to clean up flood damage in the house of an alumnus in Houston on Sept. 2.
Artemio Tamez and Franco Tamez sit in front of Franco's house on Sept. 2 after spending the day cleaning it out after torrential rains in the wake of Hurricane Harvey caused widespread flooding throughout the Houston area.
Artemio Tamez and Franco Tamez sit in front of Franco's house on Sept. 2 after spending the day cleaning it out after torrential rains in the wake of Hurricane Harvey caused widespread flooding throughout the Houston area.
Children pick through toys in a trash pile on Sept. 2.
Children pick through toys in a trash pile on Sept. 2.
Patrice Laporte looks to see how much water is in his house on Sept. 1.
Patrice Laporte looks to see how much water is in his house on Sept. 1.
A man disposes of drywall while salvaging through belongings from his home on Sept. 2.
A man disposes of drywall while salvaging through belongings from his home on Sept. 2.
Axa Alvarez (holding coat) and her family sort through clothes on on Sept. 2 as they clean out their house, which had been inundated with water.
Axa Alvarez (holding coat) and her family sort through clothes on on Sept. 2 as they clean out their house, which had been inundated with water.
Jay Jackson adds to the pile of trash from Harvey flood damage.
Jay Jackson adds to the pile of trash from Harvey flood damage.
A man tears out damaged parts of a home.
A man tears out damaged parts of a home.
Church volunteers work in a damaged home.
Church volunteers work in a damaged home.
Nancy McBride collects items from her flooded kitchen as she returns to her home on Sept. 1 after the record-breaking rainfall in Houston.
Nancy McBride collects items from her flooded kitchen as she returns to her home on Sept. 1 after the record-breaking rainfall in Houston.
Church volunteers work help clear out a damaged home.
Church volunteers work help clear out a damaged home.
A man adds to a pile of trash.
A man adds to a pile of trash.
Ernesto Ramirez pauses as he cleans out his house.
Ernesto Ramirez pauses as he cleans out his house.
Damaged furniture, carpets and flooring are piled at a curbside on Sept. 2.
Damaged furniture, carpets and flooring are piled at a curbside on Sept. 2.
The Sam Houston Parkway was still completely covered with Harvey floodwaters as of Sept. 1.
The Sam Houston Parkway was still completely covered with Harvey floodwaters as of Sept. 1.
Carl Ellis talks to his daughter stuck in Canada, while standing in front of her house surrounded by Harvey floodwaters on Aug. 31.
Carl Ellis talks to his daughter stuck in Canada, while standing in front of her house surrounded by Harvey floodwaters on Aug. 31.
Giant mounds of trash from flood-damaged homes line a sidewalk on Sept. 2.
Giant mounds of trash from flood-damaged homes line a sidewalk on Sept. 2.
A girl sits amid giant piles of trash on Sept. 2.
A girl sits amid giant piles of trash on Sept. 2.
Pete Schroeter surveys his flooded garage on Aug. 31 for the first time after his house was flooded.
Pete Schroeter surveys his flooded garage on Aug. 31 for the first time after his house was flooded.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.