The tornado that tore through Rowlett and Garland may be over, but the recovery effort is far from it.
Folks were not prepared to lose everything they had worked for in just a matter of seconds.
Three weeks after a tornado tore through her home, the devastation can be seen today in the face of Barbara Torres.
“The men in my life keep me strong and they say I keep them strong,” said Torres.
She has been staying at a hotel with her family since the storm hit Christmas weekend. They are patiently waiting to have their home repaired and start getting lives back to normal.
“It’s kind of cramped, but we make due,” said Torres. “It’s four of us and the cat in this room.”
Her husband is bed-ridden and needs special care after spinal surgery. Torres says it’s been hard to do simple things like making a home cooked meal for her family.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
“None of them have cooking facilities in their hotels. They've been eating microwave food, going out to eat all the time,” said Bethany Craig with Tornado Relief and Coordination Effort.
The group, Family T.R.A.C.E., which was created on Facebook, has been a lifeline for those left homeless and hungry by the storm.
"And so our volunteers prepare meals in their own homes and deliver them to individual families staying in a hotel," said Craig.
“Oh, that was the most wonderful thing to have a hot meal at night,” said Torres.
Disaster Assistance Church of Christ has also served nearly 30,000 meals to survivors since the storm hit.
The president of the company, Mike Baumgartner, traveled all the way from Florida to help with relief efforts.
“At the East Ridge Church of Christ..[they] got a great kitchen and were able to do these amounts of meals,” said Baumgartner. “Saturday, over a week ago, we did over 3,000 meals in one day.”
Baumgartner purchases the food through donations and cooks it. Then, his volunteers deliver the meals to needy families.
"And there's a lot that still needs to be done," said Baumgartner.
Work that Torres hopes now to do one day as soon as she gets back on her feet.
“I want to help the elderly and whoever needs meals,” said Torres. “I'll cook them and my son will deliver them.”
