By Lorenzo Salinas

l.v.salinas@panews.com

 

Two Port Arthur residents each received a surprise of a lifetime Wednesday when they saw their homes after Harvey—rebuilt and refurnished.

Operation Blessing International (OBI), working together with partners The Home Depot, Cleveland Indians, Cathedral Church and the Rebuild Texas Fund, rebuilt and refurnished the homes of Allen Abshire and Priscilla Cain after each had lost their homes to flooding caused by Harvey.

“I lost everything in my house,” Abshire, a Port Arthur resident for over 30 years, said.

He was one of several residents who had to be evacuated by boat and sent to a shelter after the devastation rent by Harvey. When he finally returned to his house, he found a literal mess of what was once his home and belongings.

“It was like walking in a marsh,” Abshire said.

He cut carpet and hauled it out to the lawn. He was forced to live in a hotel before OPI and its partners came to his aid. They rebuilt his house and filled it with new furniture.

“It feels really good,” Abshire said. “I never expected the house to be done this quickly. When I opened the door I was surprised.”

By her apparent reaction when she opened the door to her newly redone house, Cain seemed to be equally surprised as well as overcome with emotion.

When the Port Arthur resident entered her new home Wednesday afternoon, she covered her mouth and exclaimed loudly while tears welled in her eyes.

“It doesn’t feel real,” Cain said when she was asked how she felt about her newly redone home.

She recounted how she had to climb up on her bed during the flood and bring her dog, Sammy, onto the bed with her. She said she had trouble bringing Sammy up because Sammy was not usually allowed on the bed.

“He had his ears drooped down,” she said. “I guess he thought he was in trouble.”

During that night, she said she left her fate in something greater than herself.

“With all my faith, I laid down and went to sleep,” she said.

Still reeling from the surprise of a rebuilt house, Cain responded to a question of what it felt like to be home once again.

“I’ll be honest—I don’t know what it’ll be like to sleep at home again,” Cain said.

One of the dozens of volunteers onsite to witness the happy event, Larry Moore said he felt compelled to come to Southeast Texas to help residents like Cain who were affected by Harvey.

“We saw all this destruction on the news and thought it would be amazing to come here and help out,” he said. Moore hails from Farmington, New Mexico.

“Operation Blessing is a wonderful organization and I enjoy the opportunity to team up with them.”

Moore said the humanitarian work of the different organizations and people present was amazing and that he was honored to help in any small way he could.