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    Pictures of a dead son lost

    Heartbreaking stories from the Texas wildfires: Terrified pets left behind in a10-minute evacuation scramble

    Shelley Seale
    Sep 6, 2011 | 1:44 pm
    • Many people in Bastrop were only given 10 minutes to evacuate from thefast-moving wildfire.
      Photo by Stephan Lorenz
    • Bastrop
      Photo by KXAN

    Priscilla and Clark Knopik, who live in the Circle D subdivision in Bastrop, fled the dream home they custom built just over a year ago to escape "the monster" wildfires cutting a path of destruction through Central Texas. Amidst the sirens and chaos Sunday night, the Knopiks were able to evacuate with their two children, but they could not catch their two cats, who were terrified and ran away hiding into house.

    Within two hours, the family was facing the loss of their house and possibly their beloved pets.

    In the raging Central Texas, thousands of families received a 10-minute evacuation notice and needed to choose what they would take and what would be left. Sadly, much is left behind and lost.

    In the raging Central Texas wildfires, thousands of families received a 10-minute evacuation notice and needed to choose what they would take and what would be left.

    "It all happened in a matter of minutes across the highway from our house," Priscilla said.

    Her daughter Elexa ran to the neighbor's house and woke them up from a nap, to tell them to evacuate. "She is my hero," Priscilla said. "We were not able to get our cats out on time. Our lives are saved and that's all that matters. We can replace material, but not our lives."

    Janet Pollok and her sons evacuated their home Sunday night. They live in the Tahitian Village neighborhood across Highway 95. In the few minutes Pollok had to leave, she ran through the house trying to collect photographs and memorabilia of Luke, her 10-year-old son who passed away two years ago from a rare pediatric cancer.

    "I dug through everything trying to make sure I have all of what is left of Luke," Pollok said. She spent the rest of the night listening to the police scanner and news reports — and watching the orange glow burn up the sky under billowing clouds of black smoke.

    "All I could think about was if I do lose the house and everything in it, it's nothing compared to losing my son," Pollok said. "I can handle this, things can be replaced, but lives can't. I have my boys and my dog and Luke is watching over us . . . that's all I need."

    In the few minutes Pollok had to leave, she ran through the house trying to collect photographs and memorabilia of Luke, her 10-year-old son who passed away two years ago from a rare pediatric cancer.

    The main fire started in the Lost Pines area, and moved unchecked for at least 16 miles south. Because there are a number of separate fires in the Bastrop area, the Texas Forest Service (TFS) is referring to them as the "Bastrop County Complex" fires. The Bastrop fire is still considered to have "no containment," according to TFS.

    More than 500 homes have been destroyed along with 30,000 acres — including approximately one-third of Bastrop State Park and its old-growth pine trees. Approximately 5,000 people have been evacuated from the area, and the fires continue to spread. According to KXAN, Austin's NBC affiliate, nearly every public safety agency in the region is stretched to the breaking point, and FEMA has promised to help.

    "I ran into total strangers today that had just found out they lost their houses," Pollok said on Monday. "They were just bawling. It's absolutely heartwrenching." She says the worst part is not knowing what has happened to her home.

    Right now, the Knopiks are just trying to stay strong. Monday night they received information that their house was still standing to some extent, but they still have no knowledge of the damage or whether their cats are all right.

    "Our family and friends are helping us get through this," Priscilla Knopik said, urging people to keep all those who evacuated in their prayers.

    How would you react if you had only 10 minutes to evacuate your home? What would you save in those few precious moments?

    unspecified
    news/city-life

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    children don't come cheap

    This is how much the cost to raise a child in Houston increased in one year

    Amber Heckler
    Jun 23, 2025 | 11:38 am
    Family, raising a child
    Photo by Jimmy Dean on Unsplash
    It costs more than $24,000 to raise a child in the Austin area in 2025.

    A new national study has revealed it now costs $472 more to raise a child in the Houston area than it did last year.

    SmartAsset's report "Cost of Raising a Child in Major U.S. Metros – 2025 Study" compared data from MIT's Living Wage Calculator to determine the annual costs for raising a child in 2024 and 2025 across the 48 biggest metropolitan areas in the U.S. Factors that contributed to each metro's total included the cost for childcare, additional housing costs, food, transportation, medical costs, and "other necessities."

    In 2025, it will cost $21,868 annually to raise a child in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlandsregion, the report found. That amount has risen 2.21 percent since 2024, when childrearing in the Houston area cost $21,396 a year.

    Houston only has the third-highest costs for raising a child out of the four biggest Texas metros, and even though that cost has increased slightly in the last year, it's still on the low end nationally. SmartAsset said Houston is the 8th most affordable U.S. city, ranking 41st (out of 48) in the overall ranking of metros where the cost of raising a child is the highest.

    "The cost of raising a child can change quickly, making it important for budding families to keep an eye on trends in their locale," the report said. "Between 2024 and 2025 alone, the average projected annual cost of raising a small child changed by a range of -15 percent to +22 percent, depending on the metro area."

    Boston-Cambridge-Newton, Massachusetts led the nation with the highest annual cost for raising a child, totaling more than $39,000, up from $37,758 in 2024.

    Costs for raising a child in other Texas metros
    Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos is – unsurprisingly – the most expensive Texas metro for raising a child, with costs surging nearly eight percent from 2024. It now costs $24,188 to raise a child in the Austin area, compared to $22,406 the year before.

    There's better news for families in San Antonio. The San Antonio-New Braunfels area clocks in as the fifth most affordable U.S. metro in the study. In 2024, it cost $21,014 to raise a child in the Alamo City, but in 2025, it costs 0.33 percent less, at $20,945.

    This is how much it costs to raise a child in San Antonio, according to SmartAsset:

    • Cost of childcare: $9,123
    • Housing costs: $3,232
    • Food costs: $1,644
    • Medical costs: $2,590
    • Transportation costs: $3,090
    • Civic costs: $474
    • Other costs: $791

    Raising a child in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington now costs $22,337 per year, which is only $411 more than it did in 2024.

    childcare costsreportssmartassetfamilieshoustonthe woodlandspasadena
    news/city-life

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