July 5, 2018 | San Patricio County News

GREGORY – Some Gregory residents who lost their homes when Hurricane Harvey hit have some relief coming following Monday night’s city council meeting.

Council members reviewed a request by Rochelle Jones – representing the Coastal Bend Disaster Recovery Group – to allow four manufactured homes to be brought into the city to replace homes that were destroyed by Harvey when the storm hit South Texas in August 2017.

The residences that were destroyed were mobile homes, and the city has an ordinance against new mobile homes entering the city. But the four manufactured homes that will be brought into the city will not fall under that category.

“These are manufactured homes that are windstorm approved,” Mayor Celestino Zambrano said. “They do come on wheels, and they set them up, and they’re permanent houses after that.”

Jones has been working with Harvey-affected residents to discern which have been living in dilapidated conditions – some have been staying in temporary surroundings – following the storm.

“Our priority was to do research and find out if homes are livable,” Jones said. “As the person doing the research for Gregory, I want to make sure they’re safe.”

For the residents with permanent housing needs, Jones helped discern what types of permanent homes would be most suitable for them as well as the city.

“They are windproof and are very beautiful,” Jones said. “They would come with a refrigerator and a stove. The manufactured homes are rolled in on an 18-wheeler.”

Alderman Alvaro Lopez Jr. had some questions about the manufactured homes in comparison to mobile homes.

“Are they wider than a mobile home?” Lopez asked. “Does the resident have enough property?”

Jones said the homes will be placed four or five feet from the street, similar to where the previous homes were.

“Wherever they were existing, we’re trying to put them back in that existing area,” Jones said. “I want to make this very (high) quality of life for Gregory.”