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Ethika Underwear will have Houston's back and front covered -- thanks to a massive shipment of sports bras and underwear that's headed to Texas.

Ethika announced Wednesday it had sent 14,000 pairs of men's, women's, and kids underwear to George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston to hook up more than 8,000 evacuees there in the wake of Harvey.

CEO Matt Cook says, "I started thinking about the people in Houston and the fact they were displaced from their homes and missing basic necessities, including clean underwear, and it just made sense to help out."

The donated underwear amounts to more than $250K in retail value.

Not to worry guys, you don't have to be as gifted as The Game to rock these briefs.

The Houston telethon TMZ just revealed will be held in 3 cities, hosted by huge stars, many of whom have deep roots in Houston.

Houston legend Bun B tellsl TMZ, the Sept 12 telethon will be fronted in 3 cities ... L.A., New York and Nashville.

As we reported, it's being organized by Bun B and the folks who organized the Ariana Grande One Love Manchester concert. Bun says Scooter Braun, who was a driving force behind Manchester, is at the helm.

As for the hosts, Bun says Reese Witherspoon and Blake Shelton will host from Nashville. The L.A. portion will be hosted by Jamie Foxx and tentatively Hilary Duff, who was born in Houston. As for New York, we're told Michael Strahan -- also born in Houston -- will host and organizers are trying to lock in Kelly Rowland, also born and raised in Houston.

We're told one of the people organizers really want is Jim Parsons, from "The Big Bang Theory," who was also born and raised in Houston.

Rescue efforts in Houston are in full swing ... and, no, people aren't forgetting the 4-legged victims.

This tortoise was rescued Wednesday on a tugboat by Aaron Jayjack during historic flooding in the city. He looks a bit discombobulated ... albeit safely aboard and secure.

As we reported ... Harvey will have an enormous impact on pets as they become displaced and separated from their homes and owners.

This big guy might be a shell of his former self after the storm ... but at least he isn't turnt up in the water.

Pastor Joel Osteen says his church was unfairly criticized for locking its doors to Hurricane Harvey evacuees.

The man who leads the Lakewood Church in Houston says the doors were always open, despite the video TMZ posted which was shot Monday ... showing the church was accessible yet the doors were locked.

Osteen says it was a confusing time and says if people were turned away it may have been the fault of a security company.

At any rate, the doors are now open, Osteen says the church is in it for the long haul and hundreds of people are now calling his place of worship a temporary home.

Mary J. Blige went searching for a real lovely tan ... and seemed to find it poolside in Miami.

Mary was lounging Tuesday in Miami Beach where she was rockin' a skimpy bikini and showing off her banging bod from the front and the back.

The 46-year-old superstar is one of a handful of artists who had to postpone shows in Houston over the weekend due to Hurricane Harvey. Looks like she's putting her downtime to good use.

Strength of a woman, indeed.

Master P thinks Kevin Hart is missing the boat by strong-arming celebs into donating $25k for Harvey relief.

The hip-hop mogul has personally donated a significant amount but won't say how much, and he thinks that's the way it should be. People shouldn't be judged by how much they give ... they should give from the heart, and it's not a competition.

Master P knows a thing or 2 about hurricanes ... he's from NOLA and helped with the Katrina disaster relief.

Joel Osteen ain't lying about not being able to open his megachurch earlier to Houston flood victims ... this according to the gospel star who worked with Joel for years.

We got Grammy winner Israel Houghton Tuesday night at Catch and asked what he made of the backlash Joel's been catching for turning away flood evacuees on Monday, before finally opening Lakewood Church on Tuesday.

Israel was a church member and performed there for 15 years -- and assured us he knows the "real deal" ... as he backed up Joel's word that the church was too flooded.

Bun B and the people behind Ariana Grande's Manchester benefit concert have jumped on the Hurricane Harvey relief effort by organizing a massive telethon ... TMZ has learned.

Sources connected to the event tell us, Bun -- a Houston rap legend -- and the good folks who organized the One Love Manchester show have targeted September 12 for the event, and they have gotten commitments from the major TV networks to run it live in primetime.

Jamie Foxx -- a Texas native himself -- will also be heavily involved ... he teased the event Tuesday on IG.

Jeremy Meeks is the undisputed rebound champ ... IF the massive rock on his heiress GF's hand is indeed proof he's locked her down.

The felon-turned-model and Chloe Green -- whose father has a $5 BILLION empire -- hit up Nobu Tuesday in Malibu tamely holding hands, and perhaps ... tried to hide her new bling

But Jeremy and Chloe posted a video of themselves all over each other, and Chloe's ring -- which looks awful engagement-y -- was blindingly obvious. It may appear to be on her right hand, but remember it's a selfie so the image is flipped.

The fast lane seems to suit Jeremy. He filed for separation from his wife just last month.

As much as people are suffering in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, pets are going through it just as bad ... according to one expert.

Professional pet sitter and veterinary nurse Diana Carreon says animals process displacement and trauma the same as humans. She explains how the emotional impact of Harvey can impact pets ... from withdrawal to aggressiveness.

Diana also says animals can suffer PTSD in ways similar to humans, and their recovery process varies wildly. She also says the only cure for certain, significant trauma may be meds.

Joel Osteen's Houston megachurch is open in Houston ... and refugees are getting an official greeting from a ton of donated items.

Lakewood Church's lobby has been lined by piles of books, towels, toys, diapers, clothing and more ... a stark contrast to what it looked like a mere 24 hours ago.

As we reported, Osteen finally opened the church's doors Tuesday afternoon. Some believed he didn't do so sooner because he didn't want the place to get ruined. The church however blamed the delay on high water surrounding the near 17,000 capacity venue, although a hotel across the street didn't have any problems taking in evacuees.

It's interesting ... while the lobby looks crammed, the church's main hall still looks empty, but we're expecting that will change.

Joel Osteen opted to lock the doors to his megachurch at the same time a neighboring hotel not only stayed open, but filled to capacity ... proving roads in the area were accessible during Hurricane Harvey.

We spoke to someone at the DoubleTree Hotel in Houston -- directly across the highway from Lakewood Church -- and we're told it was half full last Thursday when Harvey started barreling toward H-Town. When Harvey was doing his worst on Saturday, the hotel had swollen to 100% capacity ... 388 rooms booked.

We're told nearby residents easily drove to the DoubleTree through Saturday night. As we reported, Lakewood shut out evacuees, and church officials claimed it was simply inaccessible due to flooded roads.

Beyonce doesn't name names or drop dollar amounts, but she's still having a huge impact in Houston ... with the help of her longtime pastor.

Rev. Rudy Rasmus from St. John's United Methodist Church told TMZ how he and Bey are mobilizing to help Hurricane Harvey victims, but added she commonly keeps her charitable efforts undercover. Might sound weird, but he says Beyonce's just not flashy ... that way.

Remember, Kevin Hart called out Bey and Jay-Z to donate to $25k. There are also rumors she's already given $7 million, but Pastor Rudy -- who performed the Carters' wedding -- says don't expect her to confirm any of that.

As for what he and Bey are doing for evacuees ... he explained what Houston's going to need most in the coming days.

The Rock has stepped up to the plate in a big way, accepting Kevin Hart's challenge and donating $25k to the Houston relief effort, but in the process he made a point about calling out celebs by name.

Kevin donated $50k a few days ago and then called out The Rock, Steve Harvey, Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle, Beyonce, Jay-Z, Justin Timberlake and Jerry Seinfeld ... challenging them to donate big bucks.

The Rock knows what hurricanes can do ... he has personal experience.

Check out his video ... he makes a point of saying he didn't go where Kevin went.

Joel Osteen's church finally opened to Houston evacuees Tuesday morning, but several videos make it seem like they could have provided relief much earlier.

A local resident shot this video Monday at 7 AM inside one of Lakewood Church's underground parking areas ... and it's damn near bone-dry. The resident acknowledges the lot was flooded over the weekend when Hurricane Harvey was at its worst.

On Monday, Lakewood officials said the church was closed due to severe flooding -- but fact is there was no outside evidence of that more than 24 hours ago. Plus, witnesses tell us church staffers and security were on the grounds Monday.

The church released photos showing flooding on Sunday evening into Monday morning ... near the lower level entrances of the building.

The question: why the delay in opening the doors?

In any event, the first evacuees started arriving at Lakewood Tuesday around 12:30 PM local time.

The Kardashians have stepped up to the plate in a huge way to help the victims of Hurricane Harvey.

Sources with direct knowledge of the situation tell us Kim, Kris, Khloe, Kendall, Kylie and Kourtney gave $500,000 to The Red Cross and The Salvation Army Tuesday. We're told the money will be wired and will be split evenly.

The Kardashians were touched by the courage and bravery of those in Houston battling the storm and those helping with relief efforts.

The donation is one of a number made by celebs since Kevin Hart started a movement Monday challenging other Hollywood heavyweights to pitch in.