Willie Allen is from Encanto. He didn’t meet his neighbor, Gabe Flores, in the neighborhood they were both living in when floods damaged their homes. He met Gabe at the Ramada Inn flood relief hotel.
Tragedy isn’t something they wanted to have in common.
“The struggle is real, you know?” Flores said.
Allen added, “When it rains, it pours. So, be prepared.”
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Allen knew he had limited time at the Ramada Inn, but found out last week just how close his deadline was.
“It was from a week-to-week basis,” he said. “You know, it’s kind of rough now because I don't know where I'm going to go.”
He still has a calm demeanor and said that’s because he’s used to setbacks. Losing his home was nothing compared to the time he almost lost his life.
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“I been through a whole lot, I was shot ten times,” Allen said. “All over my body. I still have a bullet lodged in my back, got a pin in my hip but I'm a survivor. God's got a plan for me.”
He said God has a plan for him now too, even though he doesn’t know what that is yet, or where he’ll be come April 15.
The county’s Emergency Operations Center reports the number of households placed in hotels declined since March 25. There were 25 fewer households on April 8 compared to April 1. One-hundred-sixty-one households have applied to FEMA since April 1 and 194 households have no record of an application.
As of April 8, FEMA distributed almost $20 million in the county, of which about $4 million went to 349 placed households.
Other flood relief across the county is winding down as well.
The Small Business Administration’s (SBA) flood recovery center is closing its doors on April 19.
