Flood Relief for the Soto Family

On Sunday morning at 4am Hill County was under a flood watch when a large storm rolled in. Within a couple of hours, the town the Soto family lives in received over 4” of rain. As water flowed through town, it flooded a sewer lift station across the road from their home. The lift station has two pumps that are undersized and underpowered, and have had documented problems for years. The city is aware of the issue, but has failed to fix the problem (current administration has asked it be fixed by their operator, yet no meaningful work has been completed).

During the storm, one of the pumps failed to function properly, resulting in the remaining pump becoming overwhelmed.

As the lowest home in the area, and the closest to the lift station, the Soto’s home began flooding with black water (a mix of sewage and rain water), entering the home through shower drains, tubs and toilets, as it began backing up from the overwhelmed lift station.

Marcos awoke around 5:30AM, stepping out of bed into 2” of sewage and rain water, to discover that approximately 3/4 of their home was underwater. He immediately called in a mitigation team to begin the drying process and removal of affected debris, in an attempt to save as much of their home as possible.

Since Sunday, they have spent hours on the phone working through policies and coverage, & it is becoming clear that no insurance (home owners or the city’s) is going to take responsibility for the damage to the home. USAA (Soto’s insurance) stated since the problem stemmed from an off property issue, they will not cover damages. TMLIRP (City’s insurance) has stated since the issue wasn’t caused by a city employee operating machinery, they are not liable. They are now taking steps to further pursue insurance and ask for support from the city, but know it will be a lengthy process and likely not cover the home’s damage entirely.

Bailey is a stay at home, homeschooling mother of 4, that also runs a home based microbakery. Her livelihood and day to day duties are dependent on having a home to function in. Bailey, Marcos and the four girls are currently unable to use their home in any capacity and are dependent on neighbors and friends for simple tasks such as showering and using the restroom.

Our goal is to make their home safe and functional as quickly as possible, while they wait for a settlement to come through. This will require reconstruction of portions of sheetrock, flooring and cabinets to be replaced, plumbing to be reinstalled, and countertops to be replaced.

If you can donate financially to help toward costs of material and labor to begin the rebuilding process, every dollar is appreciated. If you can donate skill or time to help in the rebuild, we welcome and greatly appreciate every minute of help.

We hope to restore the safety and function of their home as soon as possible, so they are no longer displaced.