INGRAM, Texas – Stephanie Smith, a resident of the Hill Country, survived the devastating flooding that swept through her community on July 4.
In a heartfelt interview, Smith recounted the harrowing experience and her ongoing struggle to rebuild her life.
TheTXLoop’s Patty Santos met Smith hours after the Ingram Volunteer Fire Department rescued her.
Days later, Smith said a family volunteering helped her clean out her home.
“A mother and her 19-year-old son and another mother with her 15-year-old daughter came in from San Antonio,” she said. “Because of them, we would get whatever we could salvage, and then they took it over, and we put it in the garage of the temporary housing I have now.”
Smith has had to start from zero in getting her life back, including getting an ID. But so far, she has gotten a rental car.
She had renters insurance, which helped a little, but she also went through the process to apply for FEMA funding.
“That was five or six hours, you know, and you have the list and you’re going, ‘okay, so much for the rest of the stuff on the list,’” she said.
Smith is slowly getting her life back and is grounded in resilience and hope.
“I’m grateful to be alive,” she said.
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