Volunteers from Pennsylvania rebuild home destroyed by Hurricane Harvey

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February 26, 2019 | Marissa Cummings, KIII-TV

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A Port Aransas family is one step closer to having their life back after Hurricane Harvey.

A FEMA trailer was the home for Frankie and Joe Pemberton for over a year, but now they get to call a new house their home.

Before Hurricane Harvey, the Pemberton’s had two full trailers, two mobile trailers, a 30-foot-boat, and a truck on their plot of land. Once the Pemberton’s evacuated and returned after Harvey that was no longer the case.

“And when we came back it was completely destroyed, gone they dozed everything we had to the street,” Frankie said. 

The Pemberton’s reached out to the Coastal Bend Disaster Recovery Group and started the process of getting a house.

In 2019, the Pemberton’s will have a new home and don’t have to worry about a mortgage.

The home was possible without the help of many volunteers. 

“The churches have helped, the Mennonites have helped, the Amish have helped, the Presbyterian churches,” Pemberton said. 

Presbyterian Disaster Assitance group is an organization made up of church members from Pennsylvania traveling the U.S. to help in disaster recovery.

“You can see by some of our shirts we painted all day yesterday, we have three other crews out right now, putting doors on and another crew cleaning lots,” pastor Gary Lyon said. 

Presbyterian Disaster Assitance has helped after many significant storms such as moving debris, mucking and knocking down walls.

According to Lyon, stopping by the Pemberton’s home was a nice change of pace.

“Most of us have never done a house move in, so it brings a whole lot of joy because we’re not on this end of it,” Lyon said. 

Presbyterian Disaster Assitance will be in Port Aransas until March 2 helping people repair their homes.

The Coastal Bend Disaster Recovery Group has installed five manufactured homes in Port Aranas.

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