NEW CANEY, Texas – A New Caney family says they’ve been displaced for the past 4 months because of severe weather. During this time, they’ve been left in limbo by FEMA, which still hasn’t sent them money they were approved for.
On top of that, they say several other FEMA claims are still pending. When they tried to get answers, they were given the run-around instead.
“We’ve been out of our home for almost five months,” Becky Lewis said.
Severe weather has not been kind to her and her husband, Derald Jacob’s property.
“We went through two floods, and then we went through Beryl,” Lewis said.
During the derecho, the couple says their white RV was completely submerged in water. With no help from FEMA for that declared disaster, they hadn’t been able to move back. After Hurricane Beryl, things only got worse.
“It’s non livable. We cannot go back into it. It smells bad. It’s got black mold all over it. It’s nasty. It’s bad,” Lewis said.
They say they had to sleep in their truck for 12 weeks and have bounced around a shelter and motels.
“They shut the shelter down,” Lewis added.
The struggle of trying to get federal assistance claims processed has only added to their grief. They said the money they were approved for following the derecho never came. The same goes as far as Beryl claims are concerned.
Lewis says the reason was because they needed more documentation, and they wanted to do another inspection. She says it’s strange, because they’ve already done one inspection.
“So, I don’t understand why we’ve gotta go through it again and again,” she explained.
They say they did send in the requested documentation.
“I mean, I’ve done everything I can do,” she said.
“The supervisor up there told us that we’ve turned in so much paperwork that every time they pull our case up, they don’t want to dig all the way down in there… They just tell us send us this again,” Jacob added.
Making matters worse, Jacob needs oxygen that requires electricity, and their time at the Humble motel—time they say FEMA approved but never reimbursed them for—is ending on Sunday.
With little money, the couple fears they’ll be homeless. We reached out to FEMA, but so far have not heard back.
If you’re still waiting on a FEMA check, click here.