This was originally written and posted on the MIMF on May 7th after sleeping in the back yard for 4 days. Click here to read the original thread.
I'm a proud man and I don't like to ask for help. Lucky for me, I have the MIMF and I don't have to ask for help. It's just there...
We have a collection of dramatic stories from the last 7 days. I'll try to fill you guys in sometime later. For now I'll tell you that the flooding rains didn't actually get us. It was the closing of the dam that caused the water in Pond Creek to stop flowing into the Cumberland River. I woke up at 6AM on Monday May 3rd thinking we had beaten the flood only to find water at my front doorjamb. I yelled at Alicia to get dressed and get ready to go. Alicia has CP and moving fast is not her strong point. I took her computer and my guitars and tossed them into the attic then I dashed out the back door and tossed open my backyard fence gates. The water was already a foot deep in the back door of the house. I ran to my little Toyota truck and drove it around to butt the drivers door up to the back door of the house and told Alica to crawl in. As soon as she was in I tossed the dogs in the back and took off up the hill that is our backyard. I made it out of the water but sank the truck in the mud. From there we walked to the back fence. By 6:10AM water was running across the floor. I ran back to the house to kill the main on the breaker box.
The days since have consisted of hiking about a half mile through the woods to get water and dog food from my neighbors who instantly got into motion seeing that everyone had food and drink, watching TSA and National Guard choppers come and go and wading into the house to rescue things and check on damage.
By noon May 6th the water was down to just past the floor of the house so I went in and started taking pictures of the damage and then started pulling carpet and wet furniture. We had 15" of water in the house standing for a day and a half. Last night I ran a drop cord from my neighbors Nicks house. The water didn't get in his place. We used it to power up an old laptop with a Sprint Air Card to get Alicia on line to let folks know we are bent but not broken.
Four houses up the houses were flooded up to the roof. We are very lucky. I have been told to cut out all the dry wall at the 4' mark and replace it. I'm also told that I need to remove all the plywood flooring sheeting and spray the floor joists with bleach.
This morning I unplugged everything in the house and turned the power back on to everything accept the AC unit. I'll try it tomorrow. My folks trucked in this afternoon with some bleach and some big barn fans that I have set up pulling air through the house. They helped me unstick the Toyota. I got the carpet out of all but two rooms. I'll get those tomorrow then start pulling drywall. The Olds 88 was totally sunk. I suspect it's totaled. I'll drain and replace the fluids in it tomorrow and see if it will start.
Right now I'm trying to come up with a game plan. I'm not sure what I need to do or how to go about it but I'm damn sure going to fix this. The insurance man is coming from Connecticut to see if anything is covered. I'm not in a flood plane so I don't have flood insurance. A stupid mistake that I will correct tomorrow.
We are staying here at the house while we tackle this mother for a number of reasons.
I want to thank you guys for the help and support.
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