FEMA offers advice on dealing with flooding

SUGAR LAND (FOX 26) - You can bet that Jason Lucas will never forget when three feet of flood waters forced their way into his family's home, and stayed for a full week.

"We took a boat back here a couple of times to check on things. It's pretty humbling to see everything under water." he said.

He counts himself lucky. They had good flood insurance. Not everyone around here did. So the charity Operation Rescue International is pitching in to help as many as they can. The first step is getting rid of wet sheetrock.

"That these resident's homes can dry out, and they can begin connecting with the resources that are available in the community and slowly begin to pick up the pieces. But the first phase of getting the sheetrock out so those homes can dry out is huge." said Dan Moore.
　
But they can't be everywhere. While they've connected with hundreds of homeowners, the floods effected thousands of homes.

So FEMA is setting up centers at local Lowes stores like this one on 59 in Sugar Land to help get people the help that they need. There, victims can also learn how to mitigate existing damage and prevent future damage with home repair professionals close at hand. They're also set up at stores in Humble and Cypress.

Getting flooded can be a frustration and bewildering experience. Lucas hopes his flood experience will be over in about a month. He hopes.

"We're ready to rebuild and get this over with."

The FEMA centers will be at the current locations at 16510 SW Freeway in Sugar Land, 7555 FM 1960 Rd. E. in Humble, and at 14128 Cypress Rosehill Rd. in Cypress, until the 12th.