ORANGE COUNTY, Texas — An Orange County program is offering aid to families working to rebuild after tornadoes brought severe damage to the area.
An EF-1 and an EF-2 tornado touched down in Orange County Tuesday. The severe weather damaged 100 homes in the county and destroyed 30.
Orange County families are beginning the process of rebuilding and need help. The Orange County Disaster Rebuild Program is stepping up to offer assistance that families so desperately need.
The program specializes in helping families get all the help they need in one place. Families who qualify can begin to apply for several forms of aid and get things they need including food, furniture, and funds.
The county program was started after Harvey and works with state and area organizations to offer assistance to those in need.
Eric and Sonia Smith are residents who are grateful for the program. They lost their home in Tuesday’s severe weather.
“What they want to do is offer a piece of themselves, but really what they don't understand is they're giving you everything when they do that,” Eric Smith said.
Those working with the Orange County Disaster Relief Rebuild want people to know there's help available.
"What we're offering today is in-person assistance to help people enter their damages into ISTAT, which is the Individual State of Texas Assessment Tool,” Michelle Tubbleville, executive director of Orange County Disaster Rebuild, said. “Which is what the Texas Department of Emergency Management uses to identify the damages to the recent storm.”
According to Tubbleville, the process is easy and takes 10 minutes.
All those applying have to do is have is scan a QR code and take a survey. The survey includes uploading pictures of storm-related damage.
“You upload 10 photos of your home and property, debris, and cars so that they have an idea of the damage,” Sonia Smith said. “We pinpointed the map of where our home is located in Orange County. They asked us about being insured or not inured."
While Tubbleville doe encourage anyone who was impacted by Tuesday's severe weather to apply, not everyone will qualify.
“If someone gets insurance, they have to go their insurance funding before they can apply with us for help," Tubbleville said. "We don't want to do duplication of benefits. For those, we target the most vulnerable, those that don't have insurance, that the only way they can recover is through us."
The survey can be done from a phone or computer. Those who need in-person help can go to the Orange County Convention Center for the rest of the week from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
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