AFTER HARVEY: Ponderosa Forest slow to recover one month later

PONDEROSA, Texas – On Aug. 28, surrounded by water, the Dunbar family left their home in Ponderosa Forest and evacuated on a boat in the midst of Hurricane Harvey.

“We were just stuck watching the water come up, higher and higher coming up the stairs,” Yvette Dunbar said.

“We had 5 feet in the house, 8 feet out in the street. It was almost like a rapid going down the street,” Argustic Dunbar said.

One month later, the water has dried, families have gutted their homes and debris is scattered along the streets.

“We lost everything downstairs, pictures, everything,” Argustic Dunbar said.

With nowhere else to go, the Dunbar family returned to their home.

“We’re trying to adjust living in this condition,” Yvette Dunbar said. “We had to basically move back into our home upstairs where we can live. The beds were not ruined.”

The family was living in their second story.

“I bought a couple of tables from Walmart and made a makeshift kitchen downstairs,” said Argustic Dunbar.

What’s worse, the family had hosted a housewarming party in the same house now mostly destroyed.

They are waiting, keeping their faith and trusting better days are ahead.

“We don’t want to go through this again, lose everything all over again, so if our insurance doesn’t pay for it, maybe we can sell it,” Yvette Dunbar said.

The family is waiting to see if they can get help from their insurance company, FEMA or the Red Cross.

In the meantime, they hope crews can clean up their neighborhood.


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