HIDALGO COUNTY, Texas (ValleyCentral) — Residents in Hidalgo County prepared for the possibility of severe weather in the Valley this weekend. Many residents fearful of the large amount of rain predicted over the next few days and some are still repairing damages caused by the last storm.
“Yes I am afraid. That something strong comes and we can’t do anything ourselves” said Blanca Gonzalez, a resident from Mission.
Over 800 vehicles drove through Bannsworth Park on Friday as residents filled bags of sand provided by the City of Mission in preparation for the heavy rains.
“There was a tree on the top of my house and then a lot of fences down. Now with this more water, I think so that’s why I’m just coming over here just to be prepared in case of flooding,” said Ruben Perez, a resident from Mission.
Perez said he is still making repairs to damages done to his home from last month’s storm. While he is scared of the severe weather and doesn’t know what to expect, Irene Rivas says the previous storm prepared her family for this one.
“Ours is an older home and so it’s too late to do anything about that now, but now we know what to do. We need to be prepared and so the sandbags will come in handy,” Rivas Said.
The Valley Storm Team predicted 3-5 inches for the Rio Grande Valley over the weekend, but some areas north of the area could possibly see up to 8 inches of rain.
The PSJA school district opened its doors to residents in the community and their pets by setting up shelters at four of their campuses.
“We we want to be sure that our families have a place to come to they can seek a safety area within our school district not only for of course for our community members but also for students,” said Sulema Solis, the PSJA ISD director of health services.
Solis says they are prepared to receive up to 200 families at each location, with warm meals provided.
“We will also have nurses available to assess everybody that’s coming in right we want to make sure that they’re doing well health wise to its were really important to us the health and safety of our of our community so we can be there in any way to help them. You know, that’s the main reason that we’re opening up the shelters,” Solis saidd.
The shelters provided by PSJA ISD opened at 8 pm and Solis said they’ll remain open until further notice. The city gave away sandbags on Saturday morning.
