As Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Texas on Friday, the city of Houston was hit the hardest by the devastating storm. In the middle of the chaos, right-wing pastor Joel Osteen closed the doors of his mega church until pressure from social media forced him to reverse course.

Osteen speaks

It was just this past Friday when Hurricane Harvey struck Texas in what experts are calling the worst storm to hit the state in nearly 500 years. With winds up to 130 mph, the hurricane was labeled a Category 4 resulting in close to a dozens deaths as of press time.

Thousands of homes have been destroyed, with millions in the state being impacted and forced to flee for safer grounds. Personal stories have made their way around social media, many of which have been heartbreaking due to the negative images that have been made clear to the public. One story that made headiness was Pastor Joel Osteen, who runs the nearly 17,000 seat mega Lakewood Church in Houston, who kept the building closed until heavy pressure from millions on social media. As seen during the August 30 edition of the "TODAY" show, Osteen addressed the controversy and decided to blame social media sites like Twitter for the alleged misinformation.

Joining the hosts of "TODAY" on Wednesday was Joel Osteen who attempted to set the record straight and right the ship of the latest controversy.

"I think sometimes social media can be very powerful and it can create this false narrative," Osteen said. "If you are sitting in another state and you are not here...I mean, my niece was stranded right across the street from this building, nowhere to go," he added.

Joel Osteen went on to continue to backtrack, stating, "we are all about helping people." The pastor also noted that his decision was partly based on "safety issues," before adding, "social media doesn't run out lives." Osteen is no stranger to controversy, as his literal interpretation of the Bible has often found himself in the headlines while clashing with more liberal Americans.

With the doors of the church now open, only time will tell how many people take shelter in an attempt to avoid even greater impact of the storm.

Moving forward

While the Lakewood Church has now welcomed people inside, the storm has done damage that many are comparing to Hurricane Katrina back in New Orleans from 2005. Donald Trump touched down in Texas on Tuesday to survey the damage, but stayed out of Houston where the worst of the storm took place.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED