People in La Grange clean up after historic flood

Harvey dumped more than 25 inches of rain on the town of La Grange, flooding about 500 homes and dozens of businesses.

People in the town spent Wednesday cleaning up damage and debris around their property.

It was the worst flood La Grange has seen in more than a century.

"You don't ever think this will happen and then when you see it, you just can't believe that it's happening," said Eddie Posas who has lived in La Grange for 42 years.

Eddie said his home has never flooded until now.

"I had about a foot of water in my house," Posas said. 

Eddie evacuated on Monday with his family.
He came home Sunday to ruined furniture and a home that will need to be rebuilt.

"At least I got a house, there's some people up the street there that haven't even been able to go check their homes and there is no homes," said Posas. 

Many others in La Grange also spent the day throwing away damaged belongings.

"We're supposed to be open in two weeks, but I guess we cannot do that. We lost everything. We don't have no insurance and it's very sad, but there's nothing we can do," said business owner Luis Oroseita.

Luckily, for people who lost so much in the flood, this a close-knit community with a lot of heart.

"We were so grateful and thankful that there was no water in our home, we were able to return home and, so, one of the first things we did was run and grab some groceries and start cooking and just letting the neighbors know that there's food available," said Jessica James who has become somewhat of the neighborhood chef.

"She's doing a good job feeding the neighborhood there," Posas said.

James has been cooking for all her neighbors because she knows how lucky she is that her home was untouched by the rain swollen river.

"It came actually up into our yard and up the driveway, so it was pretty close," said James.

Even those who had to throw out their belongings and start over said La Grange is home and there's no where they'd rather be.

"I'm not going anywhere. Been here 42 years. Only house I've ever had, you know, so might as well rebuild," Posas said.

Fayette County was added to the Governor's disaster declaration Wednesday. That's good news for people in La Grange because it means they will receive help from state and federal resources.