ROCKPORT, Texas — Those of us here in the Coastal Bend know that the recovery from Hurricane Harvey has been long and costly.
But some who had to rebuild have recovered some of those costs in the form of lower utility bills.
When families in Rockport were hit by Hurricane Harvey two years ago, they had to rebuild and some from almost nothing.
"We had greater than 50 percent damage,” Portland resident Denise Fisher said. “As a result of that, we had to follow guidelines from the city for the building codes."
And the city set a number of guidelines for this community to rebuild, to make sure their houses are energy efficient and ready to endure another storm.
"All new windows, all new doors, upgrade all the electricity, lighting, wiring, any of that kind of stuff,” Fisher said.
The Fishers have been working on their home for almost 22 months and they're more than happy with the results they are seeing.
"We looked at our electricity bill, and we are using 46% less electricity than we did before the storm,” she said.
One of the main reasons is because all of the materials, including the windows they have installed are insulated.
In fact, many families in this community are using the same type of energy-saving window panels that the Fisher family is."
With the new renovations, many families in the community are not only saving money, but creating a better environment for a city that has already been through so much.
"As hard as Harvey was, there was something really good that happened,” Fisher said.
The Fishers have some advice for others making repairs to their homes.
They say you should bring in someone from the city to make sure that you don't overlook hidden damage.
