Holly Acres Residents Want County to Extend Shelter, Aid

Patricia Ochoa is homeless right now. She lost everything in the flooding at Holly Acres mobile home community off of Route 1.

displaced residents after flooding from tropical storm Lee over the weekend. Ochoa owned her home, and lived in Woodbridge since 1998, but wants "a new home."

"We need help finding a place to live," said Ochoa. "We haven't had time to do anything right now. We are staying in the shelter on Minnieville Road and we haven't had time to do anything. The Red Cross has been doing a good job so far. After Friday, we don't have nothing. It is not just my family, its 60 to 65 families around here."

The group was put together by Ricardo Juarez of Mexicanos Sin Fronteras (Mexicans Without Borders) and will be presenting a letter to the Board of County Supervisors at the 2 p.m. meeting asking that there not be a deadline for the assistance given to flood victims.

"The victims of the flood asked me to be the official spokesperson," said Juarez at the press conference. In Juarez's opinion, the county has done an "excellent" job so far. "We request an extension of the help, we are requesting to them to do all the necessary steps to get a declaration of a natural disaster," said Juarez, asking for "economical assistance" for victims. 

Juarez said that the issue now is that low-income housing is not available in the county and that a central location for donations has not been made available. Juarez is also asking that Woodbridge district supervisor Frank Principi be made the liason between the flood victims and the state and federal entities responsible for distributing aid. 

Many posters had different pleads for help, begging Principi to help the residents of Holly Acres. Ochoa said that Principi has been out and talking to residents. 

The shelter set up at the Sharron Baucom Recreation Center in Dale City will be open to evacuees until Friday at noon; the county is still working on coming together with a central plan for assistance, aid and donations.