It’s been six months since Hurricane Harvey struck the Houston area.
Many of us are still recovering from devastating floods. Dickinson was one of the hardest-hit cities.
There are signs of progress there -- actual signs that read “now open” or “opening soon” along the Gulf Freeway.
Meanwhile, many residents are still slowly repairing their flood-ravaged homes.
“But they’re not complaining,” said Jerry Wise. “They all seem happy to be putting their lives back together. So it’s kind of inspiring to me.”
Wise is a former house flipper who’s now working with a crew to help fix homes. He and his teenage son helped rescue people with their kayaks six months ago.
“There were, like, 14 people in a Kroger we pulled out and then some at an apartment complex behind it,” Wise said. “And then a manager of a Whataburger.”
“It was pretty crazy,” said Toni Ann Costa.
Costa swam to safety from her home that stands within sight of Dickinson Bayou. She and several others initially sought refuge in her attic as floodwaters rose.
“And one of the guys found something to knock a hole out of the side of the house just because we wanted to make sure we could get out,” Costa said.
Costa’s come a long way in six months. Her kitchen is about the only thing that hasn’t been fully repaired. But she has no plans to remove a pink blanket originally tied to the roof so Coast Guard choppers would know someone was still alive inside.
“I’m really blessed, really blessed,” Costa said.
A half a year after Harvey, and a few homes are back to normal, possibly in even better shape. But complete recovery may never be fully realized for so many others.