This browser does not support the Video element.
Pasadena recovery ongoing after tornadoes
Almost eight months after a tornado tore through Pasadena and Deer Park, people and business are still recovering. FOX 26 anchor Caroline Collins went to the area to see how progress has been made.
HOUSTON - On Jan. 24 a tornado ripped through parts of Pasadena and Deer Park.
Homes and businesses were severely damaged and destroyed.
"It still gets me a little teary," stated Melissa Clark, Manager of Animal Control and Adoption at the Pasadena Animal Shelter.
A portion of the Pasadena Animal Shelter at 5150 Burke Road was destroyed.
PASADENA TORNADO: NWS confirms Deer Park/Pasadena tornado preliminarily rated as EF3
When the tornado hit, 200 cats and dogs and some employees were cared for inside the shelter.
"Despite there were pieces of the roof and insulation falling into the kennels, they (the cats, dogs, and employees) were fine," stated Clark.
This browser does not support the Video element.
Tornado damages animal shelter in Pasadena
*EDITORS NOTE: This video is from a previous story in January 2023. FOX 26 Reporter Gabby Hart has more on what happened and what volunteers are doing to make sure the animals have a safe place to stay while the cleanup begins.
Now, the shelter is by appointment only and they have moved everything into the Adoption Center next door.
"Everybody, all the staff, animals that we have, all of the stuff that we use, we are all here," stated Clark
"And so actually I'm in an office that is made for one person but there is four of us. And we have our dispatch in a closet and our adoption events team in a cat staging room. But we are making it work!"
RELATED: Houston tornado: Pasadena neighborhood begins to recover following EF3 tornado
A Pasadena resident and her family are also still displaced after their home on Kiowa Street was hit by the tornado.
The roof of the home they lived in for about five years was torn off and there was extensive water damage.
This browser does not support the Video element.
Apartment building in Pasadena suffers tornado damage, strong winds
*EDITORS NOTE: This video is from a previous story in January 2023. As FOX 26 continues to bring wall-to-wall coverage of the severe weather across the Greater Houston area, our Sherman Desselle shows the severe damage to an apartment in Pasadena and speaks with a resident impacted by the storm.
"All this had to be redone, all the walls came down. You could see straight through the house," said Isamar Aguilar. "So that is what has taken a very long time. We had to have everything brand new. We had to basically start from the bottom."
Aguilar and her husband have a kindergartener and an eighth grader.
SUGGESTED: Houston tornado: Couple thankful to be alive after witnessing Pasadena tornado in their RV
Since Jan. 24, they have been living with a relative while working on their home, including a new roof is completed.
Aguilar also has cookie baking business, Issa Cookie, that took a big hit as well.
This browser does not support the Video element.
"I have had to tell a lot of my loyal customers that I cannot do a lot of their work. A lot of my big orders, company orders," she said. "You know I've lost a lot of business. But they all say they are waiting for me to come back. I know they are supportive of me and they understand.
The air conditioning and plumbing in the home were destroyed when the tornado hit.
"We had to get everything new including the AC and plumbing, which has taken a long time," Aguilar says.
Aguilar and her family are hoping to move back into their home as soon as the repairs and renovations are finished.
She plans to start baking cookies once again for her customers as soon as possible. "I miss it so much and I even had to get a new baking oven."
Throughout Pasadena there is still noticeable damage from the devastating tornado.