CONROE, Texas – Living under the constant threat of rising waters has taken it’s toll both emotionally and financially for families in Conroe’s River Plantation community. With Hurricane season just beginning, many in this neighborhood are deciding whether it’s worth staying here after suffering so much loss.
“It’ll take six months. The homes for them to come back. In this community, we band together, and we get it done because we care about everyone,” Jamie Goodman, President of the River Plantation Community Improvement Association said.
Goodman said for some, this marks the third major flood event in seven years.” In our community: 209. That’s how many homes were flooded. Many of the homes flooded in January but this time was a lot stronger,” Goodman said.
In the aftermath of this devastating flooding, folks in this community are grappling with the harsh reality of having to rebuild their lives from the ground up. The streets lined with heartbreaking scenes of destruction, reminders of all the lives that were upended by the raging floodwaters.
“We just got started. We’re still trying to get all of this big stuff out,” Gideon Ferow said.
We met Gideon Ferow as he was just starting to muck out his dad and stepmom’s house.
“A lot of this stuff is not in the same place it was. Water kind of moved it everywhere. I guess that the water got a lot higher than most of us were expecting. I know we’ve had a couple of neighbors voice their opinions on whether or not they’re going to stay because of that fact,” Ferow said.
“I’ve been through this three times now.” George Gutierrez said his house flooded in May and January and back in 2017 during Harvey.
“I have to fix it. The house is paid for. I mean, I can’t say that I’m going to keep doing that. The answer is to leave this area, this house. Sadly, I love it here. It’s peaceful and quiet, the golf course. But nature is going to win over and over and over,” Gutierrez said.
