August 12, 2008 - 10:13PM
By Emma Perez-Trevino, The Brownsville Herald
When Hurricane Dolly hit the Rio Grande Valley, a distressed 69-year-old Hilda Cavazos watched her mobile home on FM 803 in San Benito through a window of her son's house nearby.
The majority of the uninsured mobile home's metal corrugated roof blew off, Cavazos said.
The wind was so strong that a tool shed atop concrete pillars to the rear of the mobile home was lifted and twisted, landing without three of its walls.
"She cried," Cavazos' daughter Esmeralda said Tuesday around the kitchen table of the mobile home that she and her son Omar share with Cavazos, widowed March 2 of last year.
Cavazos said she became emotional when she saw the damage that Dolly caused July 23. Most of the roof was gone, the railing under the mobile home buckled, personal belongings were lost, the ceiling cracked and water seeped past the ceiling, drenched the insulation and warped a doorway.
Daylight peers through a gaping hole in Esmeralda's bedroom caused when siding was blown off.
"It is the place where we live," Cavazos said. "My life is here," she added.
And she's trying to put her life back together - but it might be without assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. FEMA denied her claim.
"The damage in your home does not prevent you from living in the dwelling," FEMA determined Aug. 9.
FEMA would not comment on specific claims due to privacy concerns, but spokeswoman Patricia Brach said there is a "right to appeal." Anyone whose claims were denied can disagree and either call FEMA or visit a Disaster Recovery Center in Cameron, Hidalgo and Willacy counties to process appeals.
A denial is, "not the last word," Brach said.
Cavazos' son Samuel placed a new overlay of corrugated sheet metal on the roof soon after Dolly.
"It is a quick fix. There is no money available," he said in a telephone interview from the Washington, D.C. area, where he returned to work. He has been trying to help his mother through the claims process.
"To me, you don't have to be an engineer to see that there is damage to the house or a genius to see that there is a need there," Samuel said. Instead, he believes that there was a language barrier between his mother, who knows a couple of words in English, and the inspector who spoke English.
Originally from Mexico, Cavazos has been a resident alien for approximately 45 years and said she has been a good resident: "Ni un tiquete," she said, noting that she has never even received a ticket or citation.
Showing posts with label San Benito. Show all posts
Showing posts with label San Benito. Show all posts
July 7, 2008
Garza remains in custody as Agado family grieves
Christina Agado
July 7, 2008 - 9:24PM
By EDWINA P. GARZA, Valley Morning Star
HARLINGEN - Leaving the San Benito Funeral Home, Rick Agado said his family still felt numb from the death of their daughter Christina Agado.
"We're holding on," he said.
Christina Agado, a 22-year-old nurse assistant at Valley Baptist Medical Center, died early Sunday, days after she was struck while crossing Business 77 Sunshine Strip on June 28.
A funeral Mass for Agado will be celebrated today at St. Anthony's Catholic Church in Harlingen at 10 a.m.
Agado underwent brain surgery last week and was in a drug-induced coma as doctors attempted to slow her brain activity to reduce swelling, Rick Agado said on Sunday.
After speaking with local news media to seek help from the public for information on the hit-and-run, Rick Agado said the family appreciated the support from the community.
"We're going to spend the next few days with family," he said Monday.
Mario Alberto Garza, 18, is being held at the Cameron County Jail in Olmito charged with failure to stop and render aid, a third-degree felony.
Police said Garza, of San Benito, confessed to driving the vehicle that struck Agado.
Garza is being held in lieu of a $25,000 bond.
As of Monday, Harlingen police said the charge against Garza had not been upgraded following Agado's death.
"We are keeping close contact with the District Attorney's Office," said Harlingen Police spokeswoman Sgt. Miryam Anderson when asked if charges would be upgraded.
Should there be any change, Anderson said HPD would coordinate with the District Attorney's Office.
DA's spokesman Jason Moody said it's too early to determine if the charge will be upgraded.
"The case is not in our office yet," Moody added.
A third-degree felony is punishable by a maximum jail sentence of 10 years and no less than two years and also includes a fine of up to $10,000.
San Benito police said the vehicle, a white Oldsmobile Intrigue, had been involved in another accident where the car struck a fence and was driven away from the scene.
The June 28 hit-and-run occurred when the Oldsmobile Intrigue struck Agado as she crossed Business 77 Sunshine Strip between the China Star parking lot and Rack Daddy's, Rick Agado said in an earlier interview.
The collision threw Agado into the air and she landed on her head, her father previously said.
On the Internet, Agado's family and friends used MySpace to express their grief.
Friends posted images of Agado as their user photo and placed messages about Agado in their profile headlines.
"She is our angel now," reads the page of Agado's sister Amanda Barrera from Farmington, New Mexico.
Along with a slide show of photographs, Michelle, 24, of Harlingen wrote a blog entry about Agado's death.
"Christina would've loved to know the big deal that everyone was making about her," she wrote.
The funeral Mass will be followed by a burial service at Mont Meta Memorial Park in San Benito.
July 7, 2008 - 9:24PM
By EDWINA P. GARZA, Valley Morning Star
HARLINGEN - Leaving the San Benito Funeral Home, Rick Agado said his family still felt numb from the death of their daughter Christina Agado.
"We're holding on," he said.
Christina Agado, a 22-year-old nurse assistant at Valley Baptist Medical Center, died early Sunday, days after she was struck while crossing Business 77 Sunshine Strip on June 28.
A funeral Mass for Agado will be celebrated today at St. Anthony's Catholic Church in Harlingen at 10 a.m.
Agado underwent brain surgery last week and was in a drug-induced coma as doctors attempted to slow her brain activity to reduce swelling, Rick Agado said on Sunday.
After speaking with local news media to seek help from the public for information on the hit-and-run, Rick Agado said the family appreciated the support from the community.
"We're going to spend the next few days with family," he said Monday.
Mario Alberto Garza, 18, is being held at the Cameron County Jail in Olmito charged with failure to stop and render aid, a third-degree felony.
Police said Garza, of San Benito, confessed to driving the vehicle that struck Agado.
Garza is being held in lieu of a $25,000 bond.
As of Monday, Harlingen police said the charge against Garza had not been upgraded following Agado's death.
"We are keeping close contact with the District Attorney's Office," said Harlingen Police spokeswoman Sgt. Miryam Anderson when asked if charges would be upgraded.
Should there be any change, Anderson said HPD would coordinate with the District Attorney's Office.
DA's spokesman Jason Moody said it's too early to determine if the charge will be upgraded.
"The case is not in our office yet," Moody added.
A third-degree felony is punishable by a maximum jail sentence of 10 years and no less than two years and also includes a fine of up to $10,000.
San Benito police said the vehicle, a white Oldsmobile Intrigue, had been involved in another accident where the car struck a fence and was driven away from the scene.
The June 28 hit-and-run occurred when the Oldsmobile Intrigue struck Agado as she crossed Business 77 Sunshine Strip between the China Star parking lot and Rack Daddy's, Rick Agado said in an earlier interview.
The collision threw Agado into the air and she landed on her head, her father previously said.
On the Internet, Agado's family and friends used MySpace to express their grief.
Friends posted images of Agado as their user photo and placed messages about Agado in their profile headlines.
"She is our angel now," reads the page of Agado's sister Amanda Barrera from Farmington, New Mexico.
Along with a slide show of photographs, Michelle, 24, of Harlingen wrote a blog entry about Agado's death.
"Christina would've loved to know the big deal that everyone was making about her," she wrote.
The funeral Mass will be followed by a burial service at Mont Meta Memorial Park in San Benito.
July 4, 2008
Man Arrested in Hit-and-Run Case
Friday , July 04, 2008 Posted: 10:12 PM
SAN BENITO - San Benito police are speaking to a person of interest possibly connected to a hit-and-run accident.
Investigators suspect the individual may have key information to help track down the driver who hit 22-year-old Christina Agado and then fled.
Agado has been in an induced coma at Valley Baptist Medical Center as she recovers. Investigators say she was struck by a driver Sunday night on Business 77 as she attempted to cross the street.
Police have been on the lookout for a driver responsible since then
SAN BENITO - San Benito police are speaking to a person of interest possibly connected to a hit-and-run accident.
Investigators suspect the individual may have key information to help track down the driver who hit 22-year-old Christina Agado and then fled.
Agado has been in an induced coma at Valley Baptist Medical Center as she recovers. Investigators say she was struck by a driver Sunday night on Business 77 as she attempted to cross the street.
Police have been on the lookout for a driver responsible since then
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