SPRING, Texas – Residents of the Colony Creek neighborhood have been working to pick up the pieces after a recent storm caused significant tornado damage in the area.
Neighbors have come together to clear debris, repair homes and support one another in the recovery process.
Rafael Ponce, who has called this place home for just over two years, said his house was one of the hardest hit.
“When you look at all this, again just 24 hours ago, what crosses your mind?” KPRC 2’s Bill Barajas asked.
Ponce responded, “How life can change in one second. Within a minute between the time I got the alert on the phone to when I saw the trees come down.”
Ponce was inside when the tornado hit.
“I was closing the window because I saw the wind was carrying a lot of debris down the street and then I heard that noise,” he said. “It sounded like a freaking freight train, and everything came down.”
Despite the destruction, Ponce is thankful no one was hurt and is finding moments to smile.
“I took this yesterday,” Barajas said, showing a photo of his dog sitting in the front window. “Your dog was sitting in the front window, and it looked like he was just kind of watching everybody do their thing.”
“That’s Luna,” Ponce said. “That’s exactly how she sits. We call her the sentinel.”
Ponce says he believes he is about 50 percent done with the cleanup.
The house in no shape to cook a Thanksgiving dinner, so he went ahead and made reservations at Perry’s restaurant.