Deadly flood waters continued to rock parts of Texas Tuesday as the state was still reeling from historic rainfall.
Heavy rains Sunday and Monday brought on floods that left at least six dead, hundreds displaced from their homes and thousands more without power.
“It took about five minutes and the house was flooded,” said Nancy Gauna. Nearly four feet of water filled her sister’s home in Bastrop County Sunday after about half of a foot of rain fell in the area.
“It’s not easy at all, having to replace everything and start from scratch, again— it’s hard,” Gauna said. This is the second time the house has flooded, Guana said it was hit during the Memorial Day floods last year.
Guana said it’s hard to find hope in a home that’s been flooded, but when she looks at the images from Houston she sees how fortunate her family is.
“When you take this and look at that….my heart goes out to them,” Guana said.
The Houston area got hit the hardest by heavy rainfall. Outside of the city, parts of northwest Harris County got pounded by 20 inches of rain in less than 36 hours.
“If that’s falling on your property, this is the worst event ever,” said Nim Kidd, Chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management.
Kidd said the state’s response is similar to the approach taken after a hurricane.
As of Monday afternoon, well over 1,000 water rescues had taken place in Texas. “Which is the most I’ve ever seen in the state of Texas, it’s remarkable,” said Governor Greg Abbott.
More high-water rescues were reported in Houston Tuesday and forecasters expect that area will see more rain Wednesday.
“There’s flooding everywhere, I just hope everybody can be strong and get through all these hard times,” Guana said.
There were still pools of water on the floor of her sister’s home Tuesday and personal items are strewn throughout the home.
Some things were swept away and most of what was left can’t be salvaged. If it wasn’t more than four feet above the floor, it’s drenched—from furniture to photo albums.
“It’s a lot,” Guana said, “and there’s not a lot of options.”
She got emotional as she walked around the house but every time she did, she’d stop herself and repeat, “Material things can be replaced, lives cannot.”
Her family has lost a lot but she continued to remind them and herself that others lost much more this week.
Batrop County is one of nine counties in Texas that has been declared a disaster area. Governor Abbott said that number could climb as more rain is expected to hit areas of the state where waterways are already swollen and the land is already saturated.
