Bob’s Harvey Update #17
August 30, 2017, 2004
Executive summary: the tip of the iceberg was amazing
Someone asked me early today if it was storm day 6 or recovery day 1. I responded that I thought this would be recovery day 0, that we’d mostly be waiting for the water to go down. Boy was I wrong. This was a +1 day and a fantastic testimony to the body of Christ.
For this update I’m going to paste in the four ‘Facebook only’ updates I did during the day and give a bit more detail and outcome for each.
(Harvey Update 13)
Just wanted to let everybody know that between Todd’s visit yesterday and Iva’s arrival today, water seems to have gotten into the Sunday School Building and LIFE room. Not standing water, but wet pretty much all over. We’ll have to make some decisions about how to handle this. I’m hoping to make it to the building later and take a look. I’ll post photos if it’s worth it. Iva says the sanctuary building is fine.
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You can see update 16 below for the result. It turns out that about mid-day Monday, just about the time the rain was ending, Clear Creek made it all the way up Leisure Lane to the church, which is about half a mile from the water. It wrapped around the front of the Sunday School building and flowed into the corner of the playground. Another arm of water apparently filled the back of that building, and so we took water from two sides. But there was almost no water in the Sanctuary. God must hae stopped it before it could completey fill the parking lot.
(Harvey Update 14)
Another quick update. I’ve been receiving lots of helpful posts and e-mails regarding best practices for moving forward with a flooded home. I’m going to vet those and include some in today’s main update.
But two things stand out before you gut your house: (1) Photo document everything. ALL your possessions, whether you are keeping them or trashing them. ALL your flooded surfaces. And get serial numbers from ALL your electronics and such. (2) Contact your insurance company and make sure they are ok with you cleaning up. Most are. If you don’t have flood insurance, contact your homeowners insurance anyway, without fail. And contact FEMA.
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I really haven’t had time to vet these posts, so I’ve picked three that should be helpful. If you search the internet or your Facebook feed, you may find many more
Here is one written at the request of Ruth Mohn: What I know now – in the aftermath
And this one is by Susan Torney, whose house flooded in Ike: Tips from Susan Torney
Another friend of Ruth Mohn’s, John Parker
(Harvey Update #15)
There are a couple place where I believe productive work is being done right now. (1) The Billingsleys, (2) The Kittles. If you can show up to help with getting things out and some gutting. If you are on the east side of the creek and can get to one of these places, bring gloves, sheet rock knives or saws, and masks, if you have them. Otherwise just bring willing bodies.
If you know of other places actively working, please comment here. And if you can go to the website and fill out the ‘I can work’ or ‘I need help’ forms, that would be great.
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A number of houses did end up being worked on today. The Billingsley’s had a pretty good crew. Several more people got involved in the initial stages of cleaning out Scott and Betty Murray’s house. There is still a lot more to do, and I suspect tomorrow might be the day.
A pretty good crew also worked at the Kittle’s house in Dickinson, and that work will continue tomorrow. The Reeds were not yet able to get near their house, but the time is coming. The Winkler’s did get into their house, and can use more help, but as of today they were having to walk a long way through their neighbor’s back yard to get to the house. Pray that the water is down in the morning. David Jackson and the family is working on their house. As far as I know they haven’t really gotten much help. David said I should send it elsewhere, but it would be good if some people were able to go there.
There are still several houses that haven’t been touched. Teams from Evangelical Free Churches will start arriving in the area this weekend, and they will be a big help. But we would also like to begin finding those outside the church who feel they are facing an impossible task, and coming alongside to bless them. Beginning tomorrow (I’ll post a copy) we will have flyers to hand out to those who might need help, and forms for them to request it.
(Harvey Update 16 Urgent)
I finally got to church this afternoon, and we have taken a significant amount of water in the Sunday school building. I have filed an insurance claim and gotten clearance to take the carpet up. I do not believe we can dry it without significant mold issues. What I would like is for as many people as possible to come over to the church for a couple of hours and just get this done. The best way to get to the church is from 518 at I-45. If you can come please reply to this post or text me. If you can bring gloves and any kind of lifting or scraping tool, that would be awesome. Please don’t leave your own house problems to come, but if your house is OK or the place you are working can spare you, we could really use you for a couple of hours. Right at the moment Iva and I and Robert McWilliams are the only ones working this.
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The response to this was awesome. At least 35 people showed up and they were able to get all the wet carpet up and out of the building, clean and dry the floors and treat them with bleach. They also took up most of the molding, and put all the wet stuff out at the curb. It was a gargantuan effort and a real blessing.
I believe we got the building stabilized, but it is by no means finished. It may be that a crew from an out of town church will be able to come in and help with some more immediate response and ultimately with rebuilding.
