A 79-year-old widow in Jim Wells County is counting her blessings after last week's storm destroyed her property.
Gloria Carbajal owned two mobile homes on County 133 near Highway 44. At the end of Thursday's, May 8th, storm, one was flipped on its side, while the other was completely destroyed.
"We've lived here almost 50 years in this house. And nothing like this had ever happened," Carbajal said.
Carbajal and her daughters were out of town when the storm hit. Neighbors called to alert her about the destruction.
"We didn't have insurance or nothing," Carbajal said.
The widow explained she couldn't afford insurance payments on her fixed income.
Despite the devastating loss, Carbajal is holding onto her faith.
"I guess the devil was so mad that he came and he destroyed my house, but he didn't destroy our faith," Carbajal said.
She plans to rebuild and is grateful that her family wasn't home during the storm.
"If they would've been here they would've been in the trailer. And they would've turned or - I don't know - maybe they would've been killed. I'm glad that we're trying to pick up this mess and not having a funeral," Carbajal said.
Jim Wells County officials are working to help storm victims like Carbajal and her neighbors.
"We have representatives there helping clients and residents who went through these weather events complete their damage assessments," said Jim Wells County Judge Pedro "Pete" Trevino Jr.
These damage assessments are crucial for securing federal aid.
"It's very important that we complete that assessment. We've got to put a number on this damage and in order to have a complete packet for the state. We need to collect this information and add it to our disaster declaration," Trevino said.
County officials say they are working to find more resources to help all storm victims in the coming weeks.
For more information on how to reporting damage.tdem.texas.gov.
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