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Fire destroys home during Harvey — but Virgin Mary statue survived

Posted at 3:10 PM, Aug 28, 2017
and last updated 2017-08-28 15:10:26-04

It wasn’t just wind and rain that caused damage when Hurricane Harvey blasted through the Texas coast. Fires did their share too.

A family in Robstown, just west of Corpus Christi, lost their homes to a fire just as Harvey was hitting the area. The Rojas family had evacuated their three houses on property they own. They returned to a distressing sight: all three houses destroyed by fire.

But they also found something in the ashes that they say gave them hope — an intact statue of the Virgin Mary.

“Some may blame God and some may blame the hurricane but the only thing standing were holy things,” Natali Rojas told CNN affiliate KRIS. “As you can see this statue is the only thing that survived. I dug in there for things and all I found is a Virgin Mary.”

The family said the Robstown Fire Department battled the flames even as the hurricane raged.

“I wanna thank the Fire Department of Robstown for courage to show up in the storm while the tremendous power, the wind, the rain were going and they were still out here trying their best. It was incredible,” said Jesus Rojas, Natali Rojas’ father.

The family is taking the statue’s survival as a sign that they can make it, too.

“Appreciate what you have, listen to the warnings, hug your children and thank God for today and yesterday, and pray for a better tomorrow,” Natali Rojas said.