Homeowners in Balch Springs spent the day airing out their belongings, removing drywall and cleaning up the mess left behind by flash floods on Monday.
"Horrible, it was bad. It just rained for just 12 hours straight and got 12 to 13 inches. My house couldn’t handle it," said Rick Waltz who has lived in the neighborhood for more than 20 years.
Not only did he have some flooding, but parts of his roof caved in after it took a beating from the heavy rain.
"Especially when you woke up at 2 o’clock in the morning with the ceiling falling on you, first time that happened and then when the water looks like close coming in, that’s when you panic more," said Waltz.
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The neighborhood backs up to Guy Berry Park which is where Hickory Creek runs.
About three miles from there is where a woman lost her life in Mesquite after flood waters swept her vehicle away Monday morning.
The historic amount of rain in North Texas led Gov. Greg Abbott to sign a disaster declaration for not only Dallas and Tarrant counties, but 21 other counties in the region that saw heavy rainfall.
“I started feeling a little drop or drip on my ankle, so I was like, ‘ugh, OK, so something is going on in here,'" said Elizabeth Parker who lives a couple of doors down from Waltz.
She had a leak in her ceiling, then looked outside to see the water steadily rising. They moved their cars, but then the water was about waist deep.
"Everything got flooded inside my house," she said.“ I decided to evacuate and go to my mother’s house.
Parker spent the day with her family cleaning up the debris and dirt. While many things were ruined, a picture frame of her husband was OK, which was especially important since her husband passed away about three months ago.
Despite the hardship of the major life events, she says she remains strong and positive.
Down the street Waltz said he's relying on faith as he knows fixing his home is going to be a massive chore and expensive.
“I don’t have insurance because I was going through a hard time and had to cancel it," said Waltz. “I trust God and it will work out.”
