ALICE, Texas — Noelia Carbajal is a resident from Alice who said in 2017, Hurricane Harvey caused some damage to her house. But the floods of 2018 brought destruction to her home.
"The house fell apart like from the sides," Noeli said
"When we got all that rain, her house shifted, and it split," Margie Gonzalez, commissioner of Jim Wells County Precinct 1 said.
Gonzalez has been with Noelia every step of the way. Before Noelia moved in with her daughter and son in law, she said she stuck around and lived in the house anyway, through the summer and winter.
"It was so hot in there. I would tell her, ‘How could you sleep in there?’ She had a little fan,' Gonzalez added.
Carbajal remembered what winter felt like in an exposed house.
"She would call me and tell me ‘it’s so cold’ when it was cold and it’s raining, and her house is getting wet," Gonzalez said.
Noelia said with the help of the community and filling out the right applications, the Texas General Land Office granted her money for a brand new house.
Arnie Saenz was one of several that built this house from the ground up and said it’s a project he says he’ll always be proud of doing.
"This is a two bedroom two full baths with a living room, dining room and kitchen and a laundry room. It was just an honor to do it for her," Saenz said.
After getting a grand tour of her new house, Noelia gave it the stamp of approval. She said every day she thanks the big man upstairs.