Texas State Senator Brandon Creighton visited East Montgomery County on Wednesday, meeting Montgomery County Precinct 4 Justice of the Peace James Metts at Sweetie Pies in Splendora where they visited with some local residents and Creighton said the words so many have waited to hear.
Creighton said he and others had worked with Governor Abbott over the last several days to request President Trump add Montgomery County and 32 others to the list of counties declared disaster areas, making residents eligible for FEMA assistance. While in East Montgomery County, the Senator learned President Trump granted the request.
“So, if you’ve made any requests through FEMA and you’ve been denied and told that Montgomery County is not a county that’s included in the declared disaster area, please be patient and know that there’s been an amendment to the original counties that were included, and help is on the way,” Creighton said.
The Senator said he was surprised by the extent of the damage in his home county, likening the impact of Hurricane Harvey to a combination of the effects of Rita, Ike and Hurricane Alicia all put together.
“The scale from Corpus Christi all across southeast Texas to the Louisiana border, and Beaumont-Port Arthur and Port Neches Grove, it’s just incredible that so many communities have had that much widescale flooding to this severe extent, with an annual rainfall in just five days, and some areas around Houston reporting in between 30 and 65 inches of rain,” Creighton said.
“Our primary purpose has just been to listen,” he said, in response to a question regarding his reason for visiting East Montgomery County. He said by gathering information from citizens and local leadership, and “connecting the dots”, he and his staff were able to get a better idea of how they could continue to help from the state level.
Creighton said he wanted local residents to “continue to have hope and faith that the good Lord has blessed us and will continue to provide…”. He said they could be comforted in knowing that everyone is coming together and giving of themselves to help one another and to keep a positive attitude.
“We’re going to all see success after the storm, and getting through these tough spots because we know in God’s plan we’ll make it together because we’ve got the strongest people in Texas and the nation to come together and make it happen,” Creighton said. “Stay tuned for more information and do your best to stay safe and stay as dry as you can, and we’ll be back with more information soon.”
Creighton said credit for the outstanding handling of the situation goes to local communities and first responders.
Judge Metts thanked the Senator for his help in the area and in the rest of his district. Creighton said he remains unable to reach some of his district because of the extreme flooding, but was glad he was able to come home.
Creighton heard from some residents who had flooded for the first time in 50 years of living in the area, and he asked if anyone knew of others who still needed to be evacuated. Judge Metts told him how he and others spent Tuesday helping people evacuate, and it seemed that most everyone who wanted to evacuate had been helped to do so. One of the residents present mentioned the new problem created by the explosion of social media since the last major disaster in this area, which is people asking for help evacuating, and describing desperate situations, but then not removing the posts once they receive that help. As a result, people are using resources and taking risks to try and reach people who are no longer in their flooded homes.
Another resident drew a smile from the Senator when she complained the “Democrats” had said the storm would get rid of the plague of love bugs, but on Wednesday, the air was thick with them again. Creighton told her had taken out quite a few with his vehicle on the way there, and then clarified that he meant love bugs and not Democrats.
Overall, the meeting was very positive and hopeful. Afterward, Creighton accompanied Judge Metts to a nearby school that was set up as a donation area.
MCPR will post more soon about local donation locations and shelters.
