Family without flood insurance on devastating flood hitting Liberty County home: 'This is a lot'

Mycah Hatfield Image
Tuesday, May 7, 2024
Liberty County flood recovery: Uninsured Plum Grove-area homeowner cleans up in aftermath of severe storms in SE Texas
Liberty County flood recovery: Uninsured Plum Grove-area homeowner cleans up in aftermath of severe storms in SE TexasA Plum Grove-area homeowner told ABC13 when she moved to the home two years ago from Kentucky, she was told flood insurance wasn't needed after FEMA had not declared it a flood zone.

LIBERTY COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) -- Residents along FM-2090 in Montgomery and Liberty counties have begun cleaning up their homes after flooding from the nearby San Jacinto River devastated many of them.

With the help of her church, Rose Green has already ripped out the sheetrock in her home and is working on cleaning the mud off of her floors.

"It got to everything," Green said. "Like I said, it got up above counters. That's about 4 feet."

Green lives with her husband and two granddaughters. The family lost all their appliances, furniture and anything stored in a lower cabinet.

She has managed to spread out their clothes in her front yard to dry out and prevent mildew until she can take them to a laundromat to be washed.

On Friday, Green woke up at 4:30 a.m. like normal, and saw how high the water had gotten around her house. She said she woke up her granddaughters and they started trying to save what they could.

They took her car to the highest point on the street and watched as water filled their home.

"When we finally came back in, it was just so overwhelming," Green said. "Everything was just everywhere. Furniture was out over in the neighbor's yard."

SEE ALSO: Evacuee forced to leave family dog behind is among flood emergency faces

Unfortunately, Green said her family does not have flood insurance. She said that when they moved to the home two years ago from Kentucky, they were told it was not required because FEMA had not declared it a flood zone, despite the house having taken on water twice before.

"We're paying for this out of our pocket," Green said. "This is a lot."

Nicole Rose also does not have flood insurance. She said they are unable to get it because of the proximity of their home to the river.

She said her home, which sits on 15-foot stilts, took in 6 to 8 feet of water.

"All the water is drained out, but we still can't access our home because there's water about six or seven feet still underneath it," Rose explained on Monday afternoon.

She said she and her fiancé have been taking a canoe out to the home twice a day to check on it. She said all the appliances, including her stove and refrigerator, have tipped over from the water.

"It just has to stay the way that it is," Rose said. "We don't have an option, so ours, unfortunately, is going to be worse than everybody else's."

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