Houston victims of Harvey living outside in a tent as cold snap moves in

HOUSTON (FOX 26) - Houston is in for quite a temperature drop and not everyone will be able to escape the cold weather. Some Hurricane Harvey victims still don't have a place to live.  

The area of northwest Houston was hit hard. Many residents who once lived there still aren't back in their homes including the Cervantes family who's living on their property in a tent with nowhere else to go.

"The water was up to here when we got out of here," explains Petra Cervantes as she describes being rescued from their home in neck deep water. They went to live in a shelter and for the last three months Mr. and Mrs. Cervantes have been living in a tent on their porch as volunteers slowly work to repair their home.

"Oooh it's so difficult. We've been doing most of the stuff outside, cooking and sleeping.  This is where I cook and do dishes," she says pointing to a portable table and an area where a garden hose is set up.

Without flood insurance, the family is at the mercy of FEMA.  They say they're still waiting for funding.

When Mrs. Cervantes leaves for work at a nearby dry cleaners, she contemplates never returning.

"Sometimes I don't want to come back home but I got two grandkids, 3 and 4 years old," Mrs. Cervantes says.  That's right -- Mr. and Mrs. Cervantes are living in the tent with their two small grandchildren.  Their 10 dogs and chickens are also living in the yard nearby.

As the cold weather comes, with no front door and no heat in the home, Mrs. Cervantes says they will huddle inside the home on donated mattresses and simply survive one day at a time. 

"I just try to not think about it.  I just want to keep going."