Shock and Horror After Tornado Hits Rosita Valley

Torrential winds and rains blew through Eagle Pass like a freight train the afternoon of April 24, 2007. I knew it had been a bad storm, and then the calls started coming in with rumors of over-turned mobile homes. Powerful storms are not rare in this part of South Texas, and they do occur with some frequency. Still, there was no way I could have known what to expect.
As I went to survey the damage, my concern turned to utter shock as I realized that this storm had spawned a tornado. Driving toward Rosita Valley, one of the poorest colonias in the most economically disadvantaged precinct in Maverick County, I saw that many of the emergency vehicles that we have in Maverick County were headed in the same direction with police, fire and EMS units all hurriedly making their way toward the area with sirens blaring. Not until I reached the stricken area did I realize just how devastating this storm had been.
Homes were shattered with little left standing but a few walls; if a home had any walls left standing, the interior of the house looked like the inside of a big blender. Debris was strewn about, and twisted wreckage lay around as if a bomb had just gone off. Homes were leveled and looked like piles of toothpicks. Mobile homes were blown off of their foundations, and then to my horror I saw that one such home had been literally blown into the Rosita Valley Elementary School across the street. It was then that I learned, to my horror and dismay, that there had been children in the home when the tornado struck, and that those children had not survived.
I was constantly reminded of a story a friend had told me of a time in the 1970s when he had traveled through Wichita Falls and stopped at Dairy Queen for lunch. A week later on his return trip home, he saw firsthand the terrible destruction that came to that city when a tornado hit. The images of twisted metal trailers and foundations with no homes left, the Dairy Queen that no longer existed, and of funeral processions winding their way through the town all crept into my mind as I tried to take in all that had occurred in Rosita Valley. The sights and smells and sounds of April 24, 2007, will haunt my memory for many, many years to come.
I looked around this part of my precinct and saw destruction like I have never seen before. In the faces of my constituents I saw shock and tears, confusion and grief. These are my constituents, but more importantly, they are also my friends and, in the blink of an eye, many of them had just lost everything they owned and some, even their loved ones. I took phone numbers and gave out mine to anyone who wanted it, assuring them that I would be in contact; I attempted to provide some sort of comfort by telling them that everything would be alright.
Walking around Rosita Valley, taking pictures and talking to people, all I could think about was how to get these people the help that they needed. Later, I stood at the front of what was left of the school and coordinated recovery efforts as heavy equipment arrived from the county. It was not possible to make phone calls from the area, but once I was back in Eagle Pass, I was able to contact state and local officials to tell them what had happened and request any help and assistance that they could provide.
Since that dreadful day, we have learned that our friends and neighbors across the border in Piedras Negras, Mexico, were also hit and that a total of 10 people from both towns lost their lives in this tragedy. Since that day, those from Rosita Valley who lost their homes have been moved to the Eagle Pass Multi-Purpose Center.
It is truly amazing and gratifying to see how the citizens of Maverick County have come together to help those affected by this terrible storm. However, it will take years to fully rebuild, and sadly, the suffering will continue for a very long time. Lives were lost, families were torn apart, and the small children who have been terribly disturbed by this