Conroe residents without utilities after tornado amid freezing temperatures

CONROE, Texas (KTRK) -- Nine days after the tornado outbreak, some Conroe neighborhoods are still disasters.

Many are still without utilities, and now they're dealing with freezing temperatures.

"I'm lucky to be alive, all four of us," Clinton Rawls said.

Rawls and his wife and two friends were getting ready for a nice meal back on Dec. 28, when everything changed in a matter of seconds.

"It was kind of blowing. It went from kind of to full force. The edge of the tornado came around the corner, and I said, 'Woah!'" Rawls said.

Rawls' wife and her other friend survived. However, inside his home, huge trees and 28 years of memories didn't.

"The Lord gives, and he takes away," Rawls said.

While some neighbors ride out the cold snap with extra blankets, Rawls and his wife stay in her beauty shop.

For more on this story, follow Bob Slovak on Facebook and X.