The Internet Is Furious With Joel Osteen Over What He Isn't Doing During Hurricane Harvey

UPDATE: Lakewood Church is now welcoming evacuees who have had to leave their homes due to [...]

By Hannah Barnes

UPDATE: Lakewood Church is now welcoming evacuees who have had to leave their homes due to Hurrican Harvey. Osteen's church released a statement announcing that it would be serving as a shelter and distribution center now that the original flooding of the building has been contained.

ORIGINAL: Pastor Joel Osteen is taking serious heat for not opening the doors of his Houston megachurch to evacuees in need of shelter during Hurricane Harvey, despite the fact that thousands of people have been displaced from their homes and shelters in the city are overflowing with evacuees.

Lakewood Church, which occupies the former home of the Houston Rockets, has a capacity of 17,000 but has not been opened to evacuees, a move which prompted criticism on social media.

The church wrote on Facebook Sunday that the building was inaccessible due to severe flooding, although social media photos appeared to suggest otherwise, according to those who shot them.

"We have never closed our doors. We will continue to be a distribution center for those in need," church spokesman and Osteen's father-in-law Donald Iloff told CNN.

"We are prepared to shelter people once the cities and county shelters reach capacity. Lakewood will be a value to the community in the aftermath of this storm in helping our fellow citizens rebuild their lives."

The church has coordinated with the city and tweeted that it will be used as a donation center, opening at noon on Tuesday. Iloff added that at least several hundred people can be housed on the 2nd floor of the church.

Social media users have been sharing video and photos depicting the flooding surrounding the church.

On Twitter Monday, Osteen asked followers to help donate to relief efforts.

The pastor has been receiving heat on social media for days, and the fact that he is now opening the church to help hasn't done much to stem the Twitter backlash.

Photo Credit: Twitter / @ABC, Getty / Taylor Hill

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