CORYELL COUNTY, Texas (KXXV) — As relentless rain and widespread flooding swept Texas this summer; devastation and destruction was left in its path.
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“You don’t know what the loss is actually going to be,” Coryell County resident Samantha Saxon said. “For us, we didn't even know some of the damage until months later when we opened up the walls and saw the black mold had crawled up the walls.”
Samantha Saxon's Coryell County home was hit hard by floodwaters in the spring of 2024.
“Did the Texas Hill County floods, the Central Texas floods, bring back up a lot of what happened to you last year?” 25 News' Allison Hill asked.
“It did. And we watched and it's almost – I hate using the word traumatizing, but it is, because I kept wondering if we were going to be next,” she answered.
“Do we have devastation coming towards us? Are we going to be spared?’ And then feeling guilty for thinking like that and being relieved that we didn’t get it as bad, again. And then, ‘OK, how do we help everybody else?’”
For more than a year, she has been navigating FEMA assistance.
“They [FEMA] were like, ‘Your house is deemed not livable.’ So we did the FEMA loan. That took seven months to get money from it,” Saxon said.
FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) offers assistance to those affected by storm damage not covered by insurance. Now, Saxon hopes her story can help Texans who are just beginning the process after this latest round of disasters.
“If you show documentation of the devastation – we had videos, we had pictures, we had everything from the aftermath – have that available,” Saxon advised.
“Don’t give up. There is light at the end of the tunnel," she said.
FEMA has issued a major disaster declaration for Texas following the July 2025 storms, straight-line winds and flooding. The incident period began July 2 and continues. Individuals and families can apply for disaster assistance at DisasterAssistance.gov, through the FEMA mobile app or by calling the FEMA Helpline at 800-621-3362.
For more information and updates about FEMA’s response to Texas Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, and Flooding (DR-4879-TX), visit fema.gov/disaster/4879.
