As Hurricane Harvey floodwaters linger in portions of Texas, assessments and some rebuilding have begun as residents and officials alike try to figure out how and whether to rebuild.

“The cleanup has started, the rebuilding has started,” says Thomas B. Neild Jr., of H.B. Neild & Sons, a Beaumont, Texas-based commercial and industrial construction company. “It’s breathtaking, the amount of damage. There are neighborhoods where families lost literally everything. It’s like the most grotesque garage sale. House after house is lined with all their earthly possessions,” he says.