Storm ravishes vets’ home

Rain water damages home: VFW services officer Carl Dry tries to comfort Vietnam veteran, Ted Haddox of Plantersville, center, and his family as they stand amongst insulation and wood that had to be removed from their living room walls after over four feet of water intruded their home during the storm on Tuesday, Nov. 11. Examiner Photo by Rosemary Smith

BY ROSEMARY SMITH, Examiner editor

Torrential rains from last week have left disabled, decorated combat Vietnam veteran, Ted Haddox of Plantersville, and his family living in a makeshift trailer without electricity.

The veteran, 63, his wife Rita, 48, and son-in-law Gary Mowery, 22, were forced to sleep on their narrow kitchen counters after the house was flooded with over four inches of rain Tuesday, Nov. 11.

“At 10 o’clock my wife woke me up and said it was raining pretty hard and by 4 o’clock in the morning, there were 4 ½ inches inside the house. It came in under the front and back doors,” said Haddox.

The family frantically tried to salvage their belongings by placing them on counter tops. They endured seven hours of cold rainwater while trapped in their home, watching all of their belongings, including deep freezers and tables float in the deluge.

“We never thought it would get that bad,” said Rita Haddox.

Mowery admitted he was scared, but was thankful his wife Miriam, 24, and daughter, Brittany, 2, took shelter elsewhere after Miriam’s shift at Dave’s Country Store ended late that evening.

“We stayed because there wasn’t time to think and we were trying to put stuff up. I was scared because we didn’t know if the water was going to get any higher, and the power went out, so we didn’t know if there were more storms coming,” said Mowery.

The three family members declined help from seven Plantersville and Montgomery firemen that spent four hours in a rescue boat searching for victims they were told needed to be rescued.

“We went through the woods and the water, had to pull in Montgomery because we don’t have rescue boats, and four hours later there was nobody to be brought in because they all decided to stay,” said Plantersville Volunteer Fire Chief Stanley Legge.

“I didn’t realize water was so powerful,” said Haddox, who added that he found a lot of heavy miscellaneous items, such as neighbors’ propane tanks, in his yard, and two copperhead snakes inside their home after the storm.

The Haddox couple is now living in the mobile home that their daughter and son-in-law were working on renovating and are sleeping on air mattresses as they struggle to find time to completely finish cleaning their property in between their busy work schedules.

“We were letting them live in the small house behind us to help them get on their feet, but they got three inches of rain and now we’re living with them in their trailer,” said Haddox, who added that the family now enjoys what he calls “potluck suppers” because all of the labels were washed off their canned goods.

“My daughter was shocked to see everything gone in her grandparents’ house. She kept telling me there was water everywhere,” said Gary, who did not allow Brittany to see the inside of their former home that contained her ruined bed and beloved toys.

All of the Haddox family’s appliances, dining, living room and bedroom furniture, including a costly big screen television, expensive mattress and wooden kitchen cabinets were lost to water damage. Wood, sheet rock and insulation inside the walls, below the four feet of water damage, also had to be removed.

“We got hit pretty hard in Plantersville. Some people got as much as ten inches,” said End of the Road Jam veteran fundraiser director Pat Easley, otherwise knows as “Polecat Shack”, who immediately contacted VFW services officer Carl Dry for help.

Dry collected a refrigerator, microwave, coffee pot, television, desk and a $200 check to help pay for food and other expenses. He also helped deliver another donation from Navasota Accurate Finance & Tax Preparation owner Donna Orozco that included a sofa sleeper, lounge chair and dining room table.

The VFW will also be delivering a Thanksgiving meal to both the Haddox and Mowery families.

Rita Haddox said it is difficult to accept the reality that their fairly new home sustained that much damage and the couple must now rely on the generosity of others for help in recovering.

“It’s hard to accept because we’re always the ones donating things to people,” she said.

“I’m not one to ask for help. I’ve got all my bills paid, but I’m barely above water now,” said Mr. Haddox, who has limited use of an arm and knee, is a diabetic and takes medicine for his heart and blood pressure.

A gas stove, toddler bed and clothes size 3T, bedroom furniture and construction supplies, such as insulation, sheetrock and paneling are still needed. To make a donation, the family may be reached at 281-414-2004.