MATAGORDA, TEXAS – Residents are slowly making their way back to Matagorda, Texas after Hurricane Beryl delivered a blow to the small coastal community.
Many people that live along Beach Road, the only way on or off the peninsula, evacuated for the hurricane after living through storms like Hurricane Nichols and Tropical Storm Alberto.
One by one they’re returning with their fingers crossed that Beryl was kind to them.
“You can tell the floors we had water that was driven underneath the door,” said Shari Gilmer.
Her home was hit by Beryl from all angles. Storm surge flooded the bottom level of her house. While upstairs, Category 1 winds tore into her roof and ceiling.
Gage: “Were you shocked whenever you saw this?”
Shari: “Yes. Extremely shocked.”
This part of Matagorda is a small beach town, a place where everyone knows one another.
It’s why you’ll find people pulled over to help their neighbor.
“We went, we saw. We persevered,” said Quinton Edwards.
Gage: “Is this enough for you to throw in the towel?”
Shari: “No, I mean. No. I love living where I do. I was born and raised in Bay City. When I was 10 years old, crossing the drawbridge, I told my daddy that this is where I’m gonna live.”
Her home isn’t habitable and won’t be for a while.
But one day she, and the others who call Matagorda home, will return.