Raúl Álvarez, a father of five, still stares at the storm damage behind his backyard.
The storm bellowed for hours, but the damage seemed to occur in the blink of an eye. Álvarez said his family woke up at 1 a.m. to crackling hail, trembling trees and his kids shouting in fear. Almost instantaneously, the overgrown massive tree towering over his roof split open and collapsed onto his home.
His eldest son, 17-year-old Justin Álvarez, was caught inside.
“My son who was in the back room got trapped because the door was jammed with the force of the impact,” Álvarez said through an interpreter. “We kicked it hard so that my son could get out.”
While their power was restored after three days, they still need foundational repairs to their home. But without home insurance, they may be forced to pay out-of-pocket.
“Two of my children were born here. It is our dream home,” Álvarez said. “We do not have insurance for the house, and we need to make repairs. Rainwater is actually leaking inside.”
Álvarez’s situation represents one of the many, less-visible challenges Wyandotte County residents that are still facing after what’s left of the Aug. 18 storm.
Executive Director Edgar Galicia of the Central Area Betterment Association said long-term restoration will take time.
“One of the biggest challenges is the cost of repairs, and the cost of bringing normalcy back to community,” Galicia said. “(The damage) is there for everybody not only to see but to suffer. And so there are different aspects of recovery that become very, very clear as we deal with all of this reality.”
Last weekend, volunteers and local non-profit organizations like Justice for Wyandotte came together to recover storm debris, provide warm meals and cover naked roofs with blue tarps to protect damaged homes from the elements.
But mounds of tree limbs, branches and chopped logs still sit on the curbside of people’s homes. The Kansas National Guard is now working with local crews to help remove storm debris from the public right-of-way.
“The additional personnel will supplement the public works crews, utility crews, contractors, volunteers and other partners who have been working throughout the county since the Aug. 18 storm,” Strategic Communications Krystal McFeders of the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City wrote in an Aug. 25 press release.
Federal assistance is available but it comes with conditions. The state and county are entitled to up to $5 million in funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). But they have to meet that figure before they can qualify for federal funding.
Wyandotte County is still logging damage repairs and labor to meet the damage threshold for federal help. Galicia said that if the threshold is met, people affected by the storm could receive compensation for their loss.
Galicia said “the state payment is just a promise,” and residents can’t know for sure when it will come. Meanwhile, the immediate cost of repairing a torn roof or crushed car remains with property owners.
Galicia added that the county continues to seek volunteers, particularly with machinery or chainsaws, for recovery efforts and to help quantify the impact of storm damages.
“Everybody's helping each other,” Galicia said.
Back at the Alvarez home, they're fighting off despair with hope and gratitude.
"Si tengo la esperanza de reparar la casa y dejarla como estaba antes de la tormenta con la ayuda de Dios y de todos."
"Yes, I have the hope of repairing the house and leaving it as it was before the storm with the help of God and everyone," Raúl Álvarez said.
