Donations pour in for tornado victims, but some needs will remain unmet
VALLEY VIEW — Aurora Ortiz left home Saturday night with her 85-year-old mother on County Road 2131. She left her husband and his parents, who were visiting from Monterrey, Mexico, at the house.
When she tried to get back to her house, she couldn't. Contacting her husband started as a challenge, then became frightening when she couldn't reach him.
Ortiz spoke to CBS News Texas through a translator.
"She was not able to go back. She was not able to return. The roads were blocked. The home was gone. There was nothing left," Ortiz said.
Ortiz said the phone calls started pouring in from family and neighbors asking if she was okay. She recalled the confusion in her head.
"I'm fine," Ortiz remembered saying to herself.
Then, her neighbor started describing the damage.
"She [the neighbor] started to scream and scream. And she said to me, 'you don't know what has happened?'" Ortiz said. "She said, 'Valley View has disappeared.'"
Ortiz searched for her husband and in-laws until late Sunday afternoon. She found them at the Denton Medical Center. Her husband and mother-in-law had been unconscious. Victor Ortiz, her father-in-law, was dead.
"In our area, we're all family. It's all one community. And so the direct impact wasn't directly inside our city limits per se," Mayor Janson Bewley said. "But just because it's not in our city limits doesn't mean it's not part of Valley View."
Bewley, Valley View's Mayor, works at the Community Center with volunteers to distribute items donated to tornado victims.
"We've just had an outpouring of support that has been a blessing.
Bewley said long-term needs can get support from cash donations. He said the city is updating its page on desired donations. There is also a sign-up sheet for volunteers. Cooke County has an effort in place, too.
Ortiz will require some help because her home is gone. Her bruised husband remains in the hospital, as well as her mother-in-law.
"She believes her mother-in-law is still in shock because she opens her mouth and starts talking to Aurora and says, please tell me they are still out there looking for him [Victor]," Ortiz said. "She has not recognized that he's gone and he's dead."
According to Ortiz, she needs help to cremate her 72-year-old father-in-law, who was retired. They plan to take his remains back to Mexico.