PORT ARTHUR — After Harvey took on Southeast Texas, many people in Port Arthur decided they are not coming back home , and the result could be huge.
"I felt like I have abandoned my people in Port Arthur," says Coretta Alexander, she escaped the immense flooding and moved to the city of Austin.
"Here i am all dry but worried about people still living in the mold," Alexander says.
She is one of the many people who evacuated, but has yet to return to her children's hometown.
"I'm torn because my heart was in Port Arthur, but my future is now in Austin," she says tear-eyed.
Alexander struggles with the idea of moving back home after the storm from Austin after losing everything, but she is not the only one.
In the neighborhood of El vista, dozens of homes are now left empty.
"These homes are all abandoned right now," says former Port Arthur City Councilman Willie 'Bae' Lewis.
Lewis says coming back to a neighborhood he represented is gut wrenching .
"The water was all the way up to the roof," he says in complete devastation.
"People's lives changed because of this storm," Lewis explains.
Many families are leaving behind their homes and children not coming back to their original schools.
Superintendent Dr. Mark Porterie tells 12News that last school year, almost 8,921 students were enrolled in the Port Arthur Independent School District.
After Harvey hit, more than 6 hundred of those students did not come back.
Since public schools in Texas get almost 9,000 dollars a year per student, there's a possibility they could lose almost 5 and a half million dollars in funding.
Spokesperson with the district says PAISD will not be penalized by the state for a year for the drop of students.
The impact in funding goes far beyond just schools, Lewis says the drop in population will affect the city value causing an intense economic impact.
He says the cities recovery is affecting those who stay behind., just like Gladdie Fowler, who is still living in a FEMA trailer.
'Harvey was stress over of stress over stress," Fowler says.
She's one of the few taxpayers left in the El Vista neighborhood.
"Our tax base is eroding because the property value is going to decrease," says Lewis.
He explains that the property value is going to drop meaning less revenue will be made from the tax base.
It's like a domino effect, the less taxpayer money the city gets, the less funding that is available the could have been used to replace city equipment damaged by Harvey.
Dozens of city owned dump trucks, vehicles, and other items are waiting for repairs.
Lewis says that at the end of the day the streets and drainage as well as other departments are going to suffer because of the 24 million dollars the city is going to have to replace.
"That funding is going to be competing with equipment replacement," Lewis says explaining that both will have to be done.
Lewis says the city's population is approaching a dangerous threshold, once the city falls below 50,000 population, the money that was sent by the state will have to be competed for with other small cities.
The city will then have to apply for grants to receive funds, leaving people like Fowler with a possible increase in taxes.
"In order to be Port Arthur strong, we must have a vision for Port Arthur," Fowler says.
Those like Alexander will be left hanging on to hopes of seeing their hometown get back to normal again.
"Give people like myself that reassurance that's not going to be done at a city hall meetings," Alexander says.
"That is going to be done on the field letting people know that Port Arthur will get back," she explains.
Lewis says that the community of El Vista will soon see a retention pond to help relieve the area from flooding and that pumps are expected to be elevated to keep them operational.
12News reached out to Mayor Derrick Freeman through text messages, phone calls, office visits, and Facebook messages - but did not get a call back or a response.
As for Alexander, who is now working and living in Austin, she says she will continue to own her Port Arthur home hoping one day she gets that re-assurance that things in the city will get better.