Family with Buffalo ties hit hard by Hurricane Beryl in Texas

CONROE, Texas (WKBW) — Buffalo native Sherry Thomas and her daughter Abigail tell me they’re picking up the pieces after Hurricane Beryl caused major damage to two homes on their family’s five-acre farm in Conroe, Texas.

“It was extremely scary,” Sherry Thomas said. “My house itself probably had at least $20,000 to $30,000 in damage, and we all know my daughter needs a whole house.”

A GoFundMe campaign has been created to help the Thomas family try to rebuild.

As the hurricane made landfall in Texas last week, Abigail decided to leave her home and stay at her mother’s house at the front of the family property.

Abigail said she woke up Monday morning to the sound of a loud boom and found a tree had been blown over by hurricane-force winds and crashed into her house.

“At 6 a.m. I heard a loud ‘boom’ while I was sleeping at her house. I have cameras to monitor all my animals and I checked and saw my house with a tree through it,” Abigail said. “My house is totally destroyed. It’s not fixable.”

Abigail said she was shaken but stayed at her mother’s house to wait out the rest of the hurricane when the unimaginable happened.

Less than six hours later, a tree also crashed into Sherry’s house, where the family was staying.

“You’re in your house and you hear a crack, I’m going to cry, and then the trees fall and you want to protect your kids,” Sherry said, tears in her eyes. Luckily, everyone was safe. “I’m thankful that no one in the family was physically hurt, I’m just a little stressed mentally.”

Sherry said she and Abigail are still living inside the damaged home with a tarp over the roof to try to block the rain. Like many families in Texas, the Thomases have a long road to recovery and are grateful for the efforts being made to try to help.

“It’s really nice to know that people are thinking of you,” Sherry said. “Thank you so much. I really appreciate it.”