Rob,
Is that you house with the tree hits? We go lucky in Fran and Floyd that very few trees came down in our subdivision. One did but went between houses. Other places were hit real hard. I had two limbs that fell and hit the side of the house. A couple of feet in either direction they would have gone through a window. Very lucky.
Our neighbor eventually had ALL of his big pines removed. We both worried greatly about those trees hitting the house. If they did they would have gone down to the slab...
These disasters bring out the best and worse in people.
When we went back to help with Floyd clean up. The Babtist's had youth groups doing grunt work cleaning out houses which is what we did. The older Babtist men with contractor skills where helping rebuild the houses. The women were back at this large church preparing food. The Babtists had a large trailer that had kitchen and bath facilities. They were ready to help. The first trip down there a group of Menonites had come to town. The men were out working while the women were organizing supplies. When I returned the Menonites were still there working. They were working out of a building where we were to meet up with the contact I had from the town government. While we waited for the contact to show up those women put us to work!
Which was fine since that is what we came to do.
Eventually we went to clean up a house. This house was under water when I was down there on the first trip. We could not cross the bridge to even get near the area.
The house we cleaned out was owned by a young single man. Some people in the neighborhood had made good progress clean out the house which is the first step to recover. At one point the owner and I were taking a break talking about the flood. He had just bought a brand new couch. It had swelled up so we had to break it apart with an axe to get it out of the house.
Not pleasant for him to watch. While we were talking I looked up and noticed his roof. It was in very good shape. Wind had not been the problem it was the flooded creek behind his house. I made a comment about the roof being in good shape and we both started laughing. It was pretty ironic.
After we finished we were going to head back and get lunch. An elderly lady stopped and asked if we could out her friends who were just down the road. They needed to have their appliances removed. I gather the team together and they said lets do it so off we went.
Well it was NOT just down the road. It was WAY down the road.
Past yet another cemetery with caskets and vaults popped out of the ground.
The house was an elderly couple's who with their siblings had cleaned EVERYTHING out of the house except the appliances. Long story about appliances but I'll just summarize. Dont' open them. Leave them shut. Tape them shut and leave them that way if you can. If you open 'em run like heck. The smell is unreal.
This family got my name and eventaully sent a thank you note.
After we returned and got lunch our contact was wondering were we disapeared too.
We went to a third house. The first trip down the water was still up and the only way to this neighborhood as by boat. We had stopped at the water's edge and could go no further. The water was filthy. We were down stream from the sewage plant and the smell was unreal. Yet people were riding ATVs in that stuff.
There was a house that was just high enough and had an airboat. Airboats are not seen alot in NC so it stood out. A Guard truck went past us to search for people. He had enough clearence to make it but it sure looks like water got into the cab.
Don't really know how he managed to stay on the road.
The house we went to clean up weeks later was past the spot we had to stop at with the airboat. The elderly couple we were helping clean out at this third house were rescued by the owner of the airboat. The water had come up so far and so fast there was no way for them to leave. No warning. Their house was built up a bit high but not high enough.
They said the car lights came on as the water rose. They could see the flood waters lighted up by the car lights that were underwater. Without the man in the airboat they would have died. He saved the people in the neighborhood. A dozen or so houses.
This family had hired some people to clean up. When we go there I was afraid they were looters since all we could see at first was them carrying things from the house. The funny thing is that after my first trip you realized real quick that there was nothing to loot. But a looter may not know it.
The husband payed off the hired help and we finished the job. They both were very thankful that someone was there to help. She had just finished chemo.
She sure did not need this stress nor the exposure to what was in the water much left the mold in the house.
At all the houses we left behind supplies like N95 masks. The masks were very hard to get in the flooded out areas. When we gave that lady a box of N95's you would have thought we gave her a box of gold.
Back in town, in my first trip there was a Piggly Wiggly that was just above the flood. A good part of this town had been wiped out. The areas that had flooded were mainly still flooded. The only food at that point was from the National Guard kitchen and the Red Cross. Not ONE window was broken in the Piggly Wiggly. No Looting at all. Lord knows these people had the need.
These disasters bring out the best and worse in people.
The level of loss is really hard to comprehend. Even when seen up close. And smelled up close.
Later,
Dan
