San Benito woman hospitalized after weekend storm destroys home
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A Cameron County woman is still recovering in the hospital after she fractured several ribs following a storm ejected her from her home.
Her family is still cleaning up the damage left behind. They said within seconds, their mobile home started falling apart.
"All this mess is from our mobile home," homeowner Juana Maria Walle said.
Walle and her family are trying to clean up what's left of their home.
Twisted metal, broken concrete and debris cover the property where three mobile homes once stood.
"This was our kitchen, it's gone, our living room is gone. It's a two bedroom mobile home, so that was the first bedroom, it's gone," Walle said.
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Walle said 14 members of her family were staying in the trailers for an upcoming family event. She was inside an RV when the storm started.
She ran from the RV when the wind started shaking it, to another of their mobile homes to be with her family.
"It was like maybe seven seconds later, the window popped, the roof flew, and walls started falling and I don't know how it happened, but my mom, me, and nephew, we flew out," Walle said.
The impact sent her mother to the hospital with fractured ribs. She's still hospitalized and recovering. Her niece was also injured, but only suffered a few scratches.
The National Weather Service says preliminary findings show the storm likely produced a "wet microburst," with winds up to 80 miles per hour.
Walle says it's hard to believe how isolated the damage was.
"It was just like a path, nothing happened to the other houses, it was just this area," Walle said.
And while their home is gone, they're not facing this alone. Walle says members of her Jehovah's Witness congregation spent the day helping clean up the property.
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Meanwhile the family is staying in a hotel.
For Walle, she says she isn't thinking about the damage, instead she's focused on what her family still has.
"I'm just thankful to be alive. The material things, yes it hurts, because you work so hard to have a home but just be thankful that you're alive," Walle said.
Officials are urging residents to report damage done to their homes or business to the Texas Division of Emergency Management iSTAT survey.
To report damage, click here.
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