Houston Tornado: Disaster Recovery Center opens for residents of Deer Park and Pasadena affected by EF3 tornado

Pasadena, Texas (KTRK) – More help arrived for storm-ravaged neighbors in Deer Park and Pasadena. The Joint Center for Disaster Recovery Assistance has opened at the Pasadena Convention Center to provide a centralized resource center where locals will pick up pieces from this week’s tornadoes.

Emily Rosalez was number one on Friday when she opened the doors to the Pasadena Convention Center.

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“We came here today to see what kind of resources we can get, and we came as a community,” she said.

It was the worst week of their lives for Rosales and her neighbors. Most of them only had a few minutes before the tornado hit.

“All I heard was the house just shaking and the windows, and then I heard explosions, bang, bang, bang,” Rosales continued.

The mayors of Deer Park and Pasadena have teamed up with various agencies to create the Joint Disaster Assistance Center. There are people on hand who can physically assist people with filing damage claims and guide them through the next steps.

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Local leaders say this is the first step. They’re getting accurate assessments from the state and FEMA, who requested data on those affected.

More than 200 buildings were affected, and more than 180 were damaged in some way in Deer Park.

“We try to make it as easy as possible to get the benefits, the care that everyone needs in order to live their lives — I hate to use the word ‘normal,’ but get back to normal. And we will. Again, this center here helps with the information and guidance needed to put our citizens on the path Right,” said Jeff Wagner, the mayor of Pasadena.

FEMA and other officials will be on the ground Saturday assessing the damage. Once they know exactly what they are working with and get documentation and evaluations from local residents, they will be able to move forward.

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