Debris still litters the small city of Valley View, Texas, one week after deadly tornadoes ripped through. Officials estimate nearly 500 homes were impacted. NBC 5’s Tahera Rahman reports what recovery looks like for neighbors.
"Just yesterday, by instinct, I was coming home," said Carlos Pineda, standing on his front porch.
But all that's left of his home of 11 years is a tangled mess of debris behind him. Only traces of the memories inside remain: A tricycle, a toy dinosaur, a puzzle piece.
A loss that's hard to understand for some of his kids.
“She started crying in her room, she was like, ‘What happened to my bedroom?’” said Pineda of his 9-year-old daughter.
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He said he was at work last weekend, and his wife and four children were able to drive off just minutes before the tornado tore through.
His neighbors didn't have enough time-- the family was thrown 50 feet outside of their home, including a newborn baby.
Pineda said one of the family members is still in the hospital with injuries, but the rest survived with cuts.
“All we could do was just start cleaning up. That was our way of coping with this," he said.
It's been difficult-- even after a week of cleanup, debris still litters the properties of Valley View.
“We’ve been cleaning nonstop since this happened. Nonstop. And it still looks like we haven’t done anything," Pineda said.
But he said help from groups like Cooke County Volunteer Organizations Assisting in Disaster (VOAD) has been invaluable.
“The people that have come through us, since Monday through Thursday morning, we’ve had over 506 volunteers bringing in and clocking in 2,663 hours," said co-chair Bekki Jones.
She said donations have been nonstop from individuals and businesses.
“Shrink-wrap for the pallets to ponchos for the rain the other day, nobody has said no to us. Nobody," she said.
Jones said families are allowed to take whatever they need, and however much they need, from food to toiletry and cleaning items, to even emotional support, like stuffed animals for kids.
"I think I’ve been hugging, oh, upwards of 20 strangers a day, just because they look like they need that," Jones said.
Jones said food and other supplies will be needed for a long time, but the most immediate needs are things like shop rags, heavy-duty toes, leather gloves, bug spray, sunscreen, and safety goggles for cleanup crews.
She said VOAD is also conducting intake and registering families so they can be connected with the state and with federal help from FEMA. She said VOAD plans to remain mobilized for nine to 12 months.
"As long as it takes, so that we can help the residents navigate the next step in the process to get them back to where they were pre-disaster," Jones said.
She said they believe about 496 homes were impacted, and they've registered 287 so far. She encourages more families to register so they can help them and keep track of their needs.
But even with efforts to restore the community, it is forever changed.
A cross now memorializes the seven lives lost to the deadly twisters.
"You've got to wonder sometimes why these things happen to sweet people," Pineda said.
Pineda knows one man who was injured and lost his wife and two children.
"It's devastating," he said.
While there for his neighbors, he's holding his own family a little closer.
“We’re just blessed to be alive, and that’s all what matters right now," he said.
