Holidays helping Wimberley residents recover from tragedy

The Memorial Day flood in Wimberley damaged thousands of homes and took several lives, but even after suffering from tragedy the town is getting in the Christmas spirit.

From Christmas lights, to crowded streets, the spirit of the holidays is bringing the people in Wimberley a well-deserved break from some hard times.

"I think its relief for everyone and all the stress they've been dealing with. It allows them to get back to all the happy times and some sense of normalcy," said Daniel Vasgaard, manager of the Old Mills Store in Wimberley.

"This is a time of celebration, of joy naturally, and I think it's also great to be alive," said Jenelle Flocke who owns Aunt Jenny's Attic.

Flocke's home was damaged in the Memorial Day flood, but even though she lost a lot of her belongings, she still has her Christmas spirit.

"It's very hard because this is my favorite time of year. My last name is German for 'snowflake.' We love Christmas. We have the year round Christmas shop and we were hoping to be back in our house by Christmas," said Flocke. 

Instead of being home for the holidays, Flocke will spend this year at her daughter's home, but she says the most important thing isn't where she is, but who she's with.

"As long as we have each other, but still there's this little thing in the back of my head saying, 'it's not quite complete,'" Flocke said. 

The flood didn't just damage homes in the area. Many businesses suffered from a lack of customers, but the water couldn't wash away the resilient Wimberley community.

"Our usual summer traffic was down quite a bit, but it's picked up in the fourth quarter and things have shaped up to be a decent fourth quarter, so we can't really complain," said Vasgaard.

"It's amazing how strong the people are. We have a lot of people that come here just to support us, to shop Wimberley," Flocke said. 

With Christmas on the horizon, people in Wimberley hope this is just the beginning of a much happier new year.

"I wouldn't live anywhere else. This is where I'll spend my last breath," Flocke said.