Battling cancer and living in a tent with three other people is anything but a dream lifestyle, but it’s what Monique Williams, Bridge City resident, had to do after Hurricane Ike flooded her home.
Williams and her three sons returned to Bridge City soon after the waters receded. What they saw was heartbreaking.
Williams said her beautiful wood floors were buckled from the water, and everything needed to be ripped out. As much as six feet of water was in one part of the house, but Williams refused to leave.
“This is all we’ve got. You have to take care of what you’ve got,” Williams said.
Williams, who battles degenerative bone and joint disease as well as lymphoma cancer, lived in the home before Hurricane Ike with her three sons, ages 8, 17 and 21, as well as with her daughter and two grandchildren.
Due to the damage to the home, there is no way her grandchildren can be in the house and she sent them to stay with friends.
Williams has been trying to do most of the work on the house herself. She fixed the water heater and skill saw herself so her sons would have hot water and she could take out the damaged sheetrock.
A few things were salvageable including her grandmother’s Bible which she found in the debris filled yard.
Williams is determined to stay and fix her paid-for home. She had home owner’s insurance, but no flood insurance. The most the insurance company will give her is $500 for food spoilage.
She and her sons are now staying in one room of the home that she was able to clear out. They had a few people donate a couple of air mattresses and a tv, but Williams was still in need of help.
The Beaumont Enterprise published a story about Williams, and the article caught the eye of La Salette Father Egidio Vecchio, pastor of Our Lady of the Pines, Woodville. Jerry and Bobbie Passon, Our Lady of the Pines parishioners, had been bringing groups of volunteers to affected areas of Bridge City to help. So Father Vecchio asked the Passons to check on Williams and see how they could help.
“She really didn’t ask for anything. She asked for prayers for everybody in Bridge City. That’s all she asked for,” Jerry Passon said.
The Passons reported back to Our Lady of the Pines and a plan was put into action.
To help Williams cook, a roaster and hot plate were donated. Our Lady of the Pines bookkeeper, Lynda Apodaca, said that Williams was so happy to be able to cook a hot meal for the first time in months.
With the help of Tommy and Pat Frank, Our Lady of the Pines parishioners, Conn’s and other parishioners, Williams recently received a new refrigerator, queen size mattress and box springs along with two twin mattresses and box springs.
“Now I’ll be able to buy food and keep it longer than a day or two,” Williams said.
For now, Williams is waiting on a FEMA trailer and determined to repair her home to pre-hurricane state. She works a little everyday, but she still gets tired from dealing with cancer.
“I need my house back. It’s going to take three or four years. I know it won’t be overnight,” Williams said.
