State leaders ask for federal funds to help Brazoria and Montgomery County tornado victims

ALVIN, Texas (KTRK) -- Neighbors and school districts are still looking to rebuild more than two weeks after tornadoes ripped through southeast Texas.

Rogerio Villarreal feels blessed to be able to walk around his yard.

"How are we here? I don't know, but we're alive, and I'm really happy," Villarreal said.

Days after Christmas, Villarreal said he was outside when the winds picked up in Alvin.

"Within five seconds, a big bang," Villarreal recalled.

A "boom" that not only impacted Villareal's home but left him injured.

"I got up, and I was like, 'OK. Who threw me away?'" Villarreal recalled.

The tornado broke Villareal's windows, ripped the roof, and broke bricks, and the damage was made even worse by what he says an insurance employee told him.

"We're only going to get covered for $2,000," Villarreal said. "I can't buy half of the bricks with $2,000."

To help Villarreal and other Brazoria and Montgomery County neighbors, Gov. Greg Abbott asked the federal government to offer low-interest loans. Brazoria County told ABC13 that the assistance is already available.

Officials said they're working to open an Alvin location where people can apply. Neighbors aren't the only ones working with insurance.

Alvin ISD is, too, after a tornado damaged Walt Disney Elementary. School leaders said it could be six months before they learn what money they'll receive.

It doesn't mean they have to wait. Two months ago, well ahead of the recent storms, voters approved a bond to spend $44 million to replace the school and another.

"This has moved it up a little bit," Alvin ISD operations deputy superintendent Rory Gesch explained. "Not considerably. We're still looking at probably, if everything aligns, hopefully, 2027, but realistically 2028."

Until then, students will remain in a temporary location. School officials said they still need the bond to rebuild even though they should receive insurance money.

"If you ever wrecked your car and it went to total, you never get enough money to buy the car you want," Gesch explained. "You've got to buy the car you need that serves your purpose. You usually don't get the upgrade."

For Villarreal, it's not money to buy the car he wants but a sale to cover the home he needs to repair, so a for-sale sign sits on the windshield.

An emotional decision Villarreal said he had to make in order to afford repairs.

"We'll survive," Villarreal said. "We're alive. I didn't think we were going to make it. We did."

Despite insurance and money issues, Villarreal feels blessed he's still able to walk around in his yard.

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