SETX homeowners concerned about start of hurricane season

ORANGE — Hurricane season officially started on Thursday, but many in Orange County are still recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Laura and other past storms. Many of the homeowners we spoke with have lived through hurricanes. They're gearing up for the season, but say you can never be ready to lose everything.

'Devastating' is how homeowner William Moore describes living through past hurricanes when he didn't evacuate.

"You know I leave now. I be prepared. Always keep stuff packed you know just for that purpose, so when it’s time to go, I’m gone," said Moore.

Moore says storms and hurricanes hitting Orange and Southeast Texas have grown worse. He's concerned with another hurricane season now underway.

"Yeah. I don’t want to rebuild or nothing like that but... hey I’d rather let it go than me, you know," said Moore.

County Judge John Gothia says Moore and other homeowners seem to be able to bounce back.

"I will say one thing about our community is that it’s very resilient. We’ve had several direct hits from these things and we recover. You know, our citizens get back out there very fast. Sadly in a way we’re getting good at it," said Judge Gothia.

Judge Gothia says the county has an evacuation plan in place and is preparing for possible storms long before they develop.

"Right now my emergency management team is in Fort Worth at the emergency management conference that the state of Texas puts on and they go through all the different planning as well as what happens before, during and then after a storm," said Gothia.

Gothia says families should have their own plan.

Jerry Slabaugh has one and he prepares in other ways.

"What I normally do is I eat all my frozen food in the freezer because you’re probably going to end up losing it, and I got a bug out bag and I take that whenever I’m ready to go," said Slabaugh.

Slabaugh says he's removing trees that could fall on his house and recommends everyone stay vigilant.

"Always listen to the news and know when something’s coming. Be listening," said Slabaugh.

Listening and preparing to act at a moment's notice.

Judge Gothia says the county's evacuation plan has not changed yet, but It might due to a new hospital set to be built in Orange.