When families are forced to flee their homes, they often do so with only the clothes on their backs. That was the case with one family of seven. When they were allowed to briefly return to their home earlier this week to retrieve a couple of important items, they found some of them were missing.
The water is gone. But the problems have only begun for the family.
"When I woke up there was that much water. When I woke up again, it was flooded to the top," said young Desire Carter, who said she wasn't scared "because I knew we was going to leave."
At the height of the weekend rain, the family, like so many other families, were forced to evacuate. Mother Nature ruined much of their home. Then on Tuesday, someone showed up and cleaned house, and not in a helpful way.
"They took jewelry, clothes, shoes, movies. And we haven't even checked the whole house yet to see what else they took," said Iesha Ballentine.
The family say they aren't sure when their house will be livable again. They had been staying in a church in Midlothian. Thanks to the Red Cross and Catholic Charities, the family can stay at a hotel in Crestwood for the next week.
"We were able to get them in a little bit better situation, so they're not sleeping on cots or soft beds. They've got showers, which they didn't have over there and a much better environment," said Jerry Holmes, American Red Cross.
All the while, they will be wondering how someone could see selfish opportunity in the midst of an unforgiving flood.
"We have everybody. Things happen," said Brian Ballentine.
"If they wanted something, they could have asked," Desire said.
All the water caused damage to the family's ceilings and walls. There's some partial collapses inside the home, too. So it's unclear when they will be allowed to return. Robbins police were not immediately available for an update on whether they have any suspects.
