Wow, it’s been ages since our last post. If you have been reading the local papers, I’m sure you’ve seen articles discussing the perpetual limbo in which flood victims are caught. We are no different. After dozens of neighborhood meetings with city council, phone calls to FEMA, investigation of flood insurance policies, discussions with our bank and long talks with our family, we feel we finally have the knowledge and know how to move forward. It came down to the daunting decision of declaring bankruptcy vs. risking future losses on selling the home and rebuilding on the tightest budget possible. We layed out all the pros and cons and have decided that in the end, rebuilding is the best decision for us.
Probably the largest pro in our decision making has been the outpouring of support we have received from friends, family and even strangers. From those who have provided us shelter to those of you who participated in the grossest cleanup process imaginable, to those of you who have helped and plan to help in the rebuilding process, we cannot thank you enough. Additionally, the emotional support I have gotten at work has been uplifting. Co-workers were generous enough to provide us with home cooked meals, gift certificate to restaurants and a Hy-Vee gift card that has lasted us months. We’ve received caring emails, letters, and words of encouragement that have meant more than you can imagine.
We’ve also been blessed to receive donations to our Flood Fund of both furniture, appliances and monies. We can’t thank you all enough for your generosity, as our FEMA grant cannot be used for “personal property”. These donations will be vital for refurnishing our home, as all of our personal property was either lost or severely damaged.
As I write this today, the professional drywallers are finishing up “mudding” and taping, and will hopefully be done texturizing the walls on Monday. Andrew and I went over to the house on Saturday and were so excited to have walls we could hardly contain ourselves. I can no longer carry on a conversation with Andrew from one end of the house to another. And one can again use the bathroom in private!
The rebuilding process has been a cathartic and healing process for us both. We will both admit that we are completely overwhelmed by the task of rebuilding and refurnishing an entire house in such a short time, but we had a nice break this weekend while we’re waiting for the drywalling process to be completed. We have created a timeline of events that should put us back into our house October 25th, if you can believe it. We’ve tried to document our progress thus far, and will post another update towards the end of October.
See some of our rebuilding photos.
Again, thank you to everyone who has helped us get this far, and who plan on donating labor in the next month. Rebuilding just would not be possible without all of you reading this now, and for this we are forever grateful.
Liz and Andrew
Tags: Flood, Rebuilding
