J.J. Watt Raises His Hurricane Harvey Relief Goal as Donations Near $5 Million

J.J. Watt, defensive end for the Houston Texans, has raised his disaster relief goal to $5 million as donations continue to pour in for what began as a modest fundraising campaign in the wake of devastating flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey.

“Forty-eight hours ago we set out to raise 200 grand and now we’re over $4 million,” Watt said in a video shared on his Twitter account Tuesday. “I’m going to do every single thing that I can to make sure that this money goes directly back to the people and that we help rebuild Houston,” Watt added in the video.

Harvey made landfall on the Texas coast late Friday, dousing the state for days with the heaviest tropical downpour in U.S. history. The storm has claimed at least 18 lives so far, according to the Associated Press, while tens of thousands may be displaced and many remain missing.

As of 10:30pm Tuesday local time, more than 47,000 donors had contributed $4.8 million to the relief fund.