Flooded Kingwood business cleanup ahead of storms

Sometimes you don't know whether to laugh or cry. Mother and daughter daycare owners Diane Haven and Heather Jensen have been doing both.

"It was a big rain. It definitely was a big rain but it's never gotten this bad before," said Heather.

"Our building is elevated and it's never crept in like it did this time around. It was a surprise for all of us," added Diane.

The 48 teachers and staff and the 300 or so kids at Kids in Action rode it out upstairs, some of them until 9 p.m. on Tuesday night.

All their cars could not make it up there, they're effectively junk now.

They say it was worse than Harvey, and that's a theme around here. Not just in Kingwood, but in nearby Porter too, where the staff at Alma Latina restaurant watched helplessly as the flood waters rushed in.

"Not even in Harvey, did we have this much water in here. Seems like it's gonna get worse every year now," said owner Chris Marquez.

The staff showed up to help clean up without pay. It's going to be a week or so before things are the same.

They may never be the same for for Sarah Newman. Her home flooded.

Her belongings are safe, but the whole family's nerves are shot.

"They had to pull my sister out of the bathroom window. She couldn't get out of the doors. It was a lot," she said with her voice quavering.

It's been a lot alright. A lot for a lot of people around here.

At Kids in Action, it's not just the owners and the employees. All the kids and their families have to come up with a plan B until they can find a new location for the business, but there is some good news.

"Everybody was safe. That's the bottom line. This was just material. Just material. Lots of material," laughed Diane.

She didn't want to talk about the next round of rain moving into the area.