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Article snippet: Even before the damage from Hurricane Harvey is tallied, big corporations are breaking out their checkbooks. Chevron, an energy giant with several offices in the Houston area, pledged $1 million to post-Harvey disaster relief efforts. So did Exxon Mobil and Dow Chemical, two companies with facilities hit by the storm. Companies in less regional industries also donated: Amazon offered to match $1 million in donations to the American Red Cross, while Verizon promised $10 million. Walmart, which took a front-line role in the clean-up after Hurricane Katrina, sent truckloads of emergency supplies to the affected area. In all, corporations have pledged more than $65 million to help clean up the wreckage from Harvey, according to a Wednesday morning estimate by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. That is an impressive figure, and a sign that corporations are capable of stepping up in a crisis. Hurricane Harvey may be one of the costliest natural disasters in American history, according to initial forecasts. Moody’s Analytics has estimated that the storm’s damage may be as much as $50 billion, though it is hard to know at such an early stage. As Houston recovers, its business community should feel especially compelled to help. That is partly because Houston and the surrounding area, as well as the state of Texas, have been generous to big business in recent years, showering companies with tax breaks, subsidies and other perks in an effort to keep them happy and create new job... Link to the full article to read more