TX floods create tragic conditions

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TX floods create tragic conditions

Residents in one of the poorest parts of the U.S. resigned

to " living in the unlivable " with mold, mildew, leaking houses

Disaster News Network*

BY PJ HELLER | ESCOBARES, Texas | September 7, 2008

http://www.disasternews.net/news/article.php?articleid=3754

Nowhere is that more true than in this tiny Texas town, where things

may look fine on the outside but major problems and dangers and

risks to human life lurk on the inside.

" They're in serious trouble, " says Tom Brownmiller, co-leader of the

Mission Presbytery Hurricane Dolly task force.

Three weeks after torrential rains — at least 13 inches — created

a " lake " three miles wide and a mile long flooding the town,

residents are still trying to clean up, some of them resigned to

living in mold- and mildew-infested houses unable to afford repairs.

The flooding was exacerbated by ground already sodden from Hurricane

Dolly, which crashed into the south Texas coast as a Category 2

hurricane on July 23.

Mayor Noel Escobar says that while his town may have " lucked out "

when it came to damages from Dolly, it was left reeling from the

unexpected downpour on Aug.18, which was compounded less than a week

later with another heavy storm in the Starr County community.

" We used to have potholes in our roads. Now we don't have roads, "

Escobar said.

" It's hard to drive down a road when there's no road there, "

Brownmiller agreed.

The town, with a population of about 2,000, was described by Escobar

as having one of the lowest, if not the lowest, per capita income in

the nation. Starr County was ranked by the Commerce Department in

2006 as having the fourth lowest per capita income of 3,111 counties

in the U.S.

Lacking funds to deal with the flood damage, residents were trying

to do the best they could to deal with what Escobar said

is " extensive " damage.

Driving or walking past most homes, it is difficult to tell the

extent of damage left by the storms. The only giveaway may be a pile

of debris, such as furniture and other household items, piled up

near the street or stacked in a driveway or carport.

Olga Garza and her 16-year-old daughter were among those who

lost everything in the flood. They remain living in their house,

which is dank, dark and has no air-conditioning to keep it cool in

the sweltering 95-degree heat.

They are living in what one visitor described as the unlivable.

" I am really scared to be there, " Garza said through an interpreter

as her eyes filled with tears and she broke down crying. " I have

nowhere to go. "

Other residents are in much the same situation, with nowhere to turn

for help.

Texas Gov. Rick has requested a federal disaster declaration

for both Starr and Wichita counties, the latter in the northern part

of the state, which would provide individual assistance for

residents hammered by rainstorms. No decision has been made on that

request.

Starr County, however, was among more than a dozen Texas counties

declared a federal disaster area after Hurricane Dolly, making local

governments eligible for assistance. Individual assistance was only

approved for Cameron, Hidalgo and Willacy counties.

The formation of a faith-based, long-term recovery committee, which

would serve Starr, Cameron, Hidalgo and Willacy counties, has been

in the works for weeks. The planned Faith Communities for Disaster

Recovery committee could bring much needed help to Escobares

residents.

Escobar estimated that 400 to 700 homes were flooded in the town.

Asked how long he thought the recovery would take, he replied, " When

am I going to get the next snowstorm. "

Brownmiller estimated that recovery efforts could take two to three

years.

Escobar said the town, which was incorporated only three years ago,

had few financial resources to aid residents and to rebuild

infrastructure.

" There's a need for everything, " he said, noting the biggest need

was to get people back in their homes.

" Anything is good, it doesn't matter what, " added Rita Alaniz when

asked what she needed most.

Alaniz and her husband are sleeping on mattresses that were soaked

twice by the recent floodwaters. She said she did her best to clean

them up, then placed them in the sun to dry.

In the meantime, the couple, like others in the community, is living

in a house where mold is clearly evident.

Living in those conditions can cause health problems, ranging from

stuffy nose, irritated eyes and skin irritation to wheezing,

difficulty breathing, shortness of breath and even development of

mold infections in the lungs.

At the household, not only are the walls moldy and

unusable mattresses piled in a heap in the carport, but the

floorboards in their home are buckled in numerous places, leaving

gaps in some cases that open up to the ground below. They have

pulled up and tossed their soaked carpeting.

Water was so high in the house that it nearly reached the seats of

dining room chairs. The couple, who live in the house with their two

teenage daughters and teenage son, have photos of family members

wading through waist-high water.

Asked how he would repair the house, Jesus replied, " I'll

start all over again and work harder.

" If there's no help, I'll work harder to repair everything again, "

he said, speaking through an interpreter.

The house in which they live is rented and he and his wife

said they can't afford a deposit on another residence. Their

landlord told them they could either fix the damages or move out,

they said.

Despite the hardship, they said they may still be luckier than

others who were hit even harder by the storms.

In Cameron County where Dolly left its mark, damage and mold issues

are also a problem.

" It's hard, " said of San Benito, whose home suffered

roof damage and now has mold growing in the walls. " Sometimes when

it's real hot it smells real bad in here. "

said she was aware of the health dangers posed by the mold,

which is primarily in the bathroom and her son's bedroom, but that

there isn't much she can do about it.

Her husband, who earns a living doing odd jobs, has been trying to

do some repairs to the wall and the roof. She lives in the house

with her husband and four children, ranging in age from 8 months to

9 years.

said her application for assistance to the Federal Emergency

Management Agency was denied.

" We're trying to fix it slowly because we don't have money to fix

it, " she said.