City of Matador in need of assistance from state, federal sources

KCBD
By Joshua Ramirez
Published: Oct. 11, 2023 at 5:23 PM GMT-7

LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) - Nearly four months later, the community of Matador is still cleaning up after a deadly tornado tore through part of the city back in June.

Now, the city’s mayor, Pat Smith, says they still need assistance from the state.

“I just feel like we got no federal assistance at all because it didn’t qualify,” Smith said. “We didn’t reach that threshold, but the feds need to look at rural communities.”

In Matador, a town of about 600 people, nearly 30 homes and businesses were damaged or destroyed. Smith says 75% of the town was affected by June’s deadly EF-3 tornado.

Now, residents are doing what they can to build back to where they once were.

“A lot of them are fighting with insurance companies,” Smith said. “Trying to decide how much money they can get to rebuild.”

Some of them didn’t even have that much protection.

Matador homeowner Brooke Brandon is rebuilding her home with the generosity of others.

“We’re working on just donations,” Brandon said, “We’ve been blessed, but we’re tight budgeting.”

She’s been unable to return to the home her mother left her, with construction expected to last into next year.

“There’s no electricity,” Brandon said. “There’s water but we don’t even know if the propane is going to work yet. We’ve got to get that looked at. We haven’t got the electricity or the HVAC going yet so I can’t live here right now.”

Across town there’s a bigger problem Mayor Smith says the town needs help addressing.

“We have 26,000 cubic yards of trash,” Smith said.

The city’s landfill is full and there’s only a few ways to clear it, some more complicated than others due to the land being permitted by TCEQ.

“We have to separate the tires, the concrete, the trees, the refrigerators - the metal - everything that’s out here,” Smith said.

That could take millions of dollars and resources the city of Matador doesn’t have, so Mayor Smith would like to handle it a different way.

“What I’d like to do is set it on fire,” Smith said.

If the TCEQ doesn’t approve that, Mayor Smith says the federal government should step in and fulfill the promise that was made to the people of Matador.

“Help was promised to get this thing cleaned up and it hadn’t come through yet, so we’re looking for some assistance,” Smith said. “We just need some help still.”

For more information on how to donate to the Matador relief fund click here.