Sleeping at night in the attic with no light for three days, and only a battery operated flashlight, two dogs and a box of kittens on the night of the storm. The family had to plan an escape from their own home just in case the water rises and was forced to relocate to the roof. 

Senior Dandy Enloe, had experienced Tropical Storm Imelda, and it had left a foot of water inside her house.

“We lost all our furniture, clothes, floor, stove, fridge, and our beds,” Dandy Enloe said. “Basically if it was touching the flood it was gone. We managed to flick the breaker before it got to the outlets (so) it wouldn’t electrocute anybody.”

Enloe and her father fortunately have experience in construction, so they were able to take out the walls from the bottom 4 feet and the insulation. Afterwards they have to buy new sheetrock, floor, and insulation. 

“It’s arduous and expensive, It’s gonna take a long time,” Enloe said. “When (I) asked about it, (my parents) thought I didn’t understand the situation. It’s life changing. It’s going to be a while until it gets back to normal.”

The house had to be sprayed with antimicrobial to stop everything from growing and the repairs and remodeling could take up to 3 months.

“We moved, and slept somewhere else once we got a couple of the rooms clean out,” Enloe said. “ I was cleaning one of the rooms and (my mom) came with a box full of grandma stuff, she was crying. I was like ‘oh my god, what’s wrong?’”

Some of the items that were lost had been sentimental to Enloe’s mom like her Birth Certificate and family photos.

“It was very difficult to let go of things that had been in our family for years,” mother Crystal Enloe said. “Things that were destroyed looked to me like, so much wasted time and money. It was devastating.”

Along with their house getting flooded, their vehicles were left in disrepair as well. They had to take a pause from paying bills while Dandy Enloe’s dad fixed his car so he could pick up his check from his job at Houston.

“We had to get rides from other people, we had a friend come help us get groceries,” Dandy Enloe said. “My car is almost fixed too, I will get it within a month, I have to replace a belt and the engine.”

Choir director Lauren Robertson reminded students on Sept.20 that the school had been canceled. Dandy Enloe responded that she had water inside their house and were staying in their attic. Choir students immediately went out to help the Enloe family.

“The choir teacher actually told us and asked if we wanted to come out,” junior Josh Phillips said. “As soon I knew it was Dandy’s place, I wanted to go out to help. Dandy’s been a good friend of mine since freshman year, one of the kindest and most respectful people.”

The moment when Crystal Enloe saw the choir students getting off of their car, she “almost started to cry”, knowing that she needed the help.

“Extremely grateful, I love the sense of community they helped me feel,” Crystal Enloe said. “(I) can never thank them enough.”