A Disaster Area
7 Oaks Road Declared a Disaster Area
New water courses and islands were carved by the force of too much water in one place at one time.
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| Here is what our electronic controller on our irrigation pump looked like after the flood. |
Burst compression fitting
Sometime after we saw the new landscape, the INSIDE of our home flooded. And we experienced, too much water in one place at one time.
About 8 days of sitting flooded water from this little pipe that blew off the compression fitting caused inside disaster.
Fred had wanted to pull the washing machine out of the upstairs because his insurance days showed him what can happen. And happen it did.
I was not with him when he discovered it. After the initial shock, he went into action- sweeping water out the door, ripping out drywall, removing furniture, cutting the waterlogged carpet that now weighed 500 lbs, to get it off the hardwood floors, taking down doors that had molded. Fred poked holes in the overhead drywall to release the accumulated water and took wheelbarrows full of soggy materials out the door: All the food from the pantry, hanging coats, hats, lamps, books, EVERYTHING had to be moved. Outside it was raining so all had to be fit into our other cabin home.
I had texted Fred to see how things were. He, knowing that I had my hands full with very sick parents just texted back, "The snow has melted but its pretty wet up here." Fred continued to work the next day and secured ServPro to come help take steps to dry the place out. They brought dryers, dehumidifiers and man power.
Tuesday Night- Maybe we should start drinking?
After wrestling with the aftermath for 2 days, Fred calls to tell me. "Remember what you said in the video of the flood that Christine Eitzen said, 'Its only time and money and not bodies and souls?' Well you need to remember that as I tell you what happened here." I asked Fred how his heart was, and he said for the first day he was pretty discouraged. But one of the things I love about Fred is that he knows what to do in the face of difficulty- and he puts himself aside because things need to get done. He told me that the neighbors who saw the damage quipped, "We know you don't drink, but this might be a good time to take it up!"
I decided to head out there on Thursday morning.
The air inside reminded me of the air at my Grandmothers house in Mexico: damp humid stuffy. But it needed to be tackled because things were not getting any drier just sitting there.
Patti Purcell our nearest (Yucaipa) friend volunteered to do a grocery run and come help for a few hours pull drywall from the cracks. She was as driven as Fred!
Sitting for as long as they did under falling water, some of our furniture reached saturation point. Finishes molded or peeled. It was an important lesson in letting things go.
Fred had found that electronic things could be resurrected if he used the hairdryer on them for an hour or two.
Here I used it on my Message bible. My bible didn't exactly come back fully but it sure has a good story to tell!
After the first week of frenzied activity, Fred rented 6 dehumidifiers to run 24 hours/day for 7 days. With the heater running at 80 degrees to dry the wood out, I hoped sweating while working made us lose some pounds!
Dump-Bound
The following week Fred and I went up again. Serv-Pro had taken 3 truckloads of stuff to the dump and we took our own trip of stuff they hadn't fit into their truck. I haven't dropped into bed so exhausted in a long while. One night I slept close to 12 hours. We are almost done with the deconstruction. Phew! It will be a long haul to RE-construction but with Fred at the helm I have confidence it will come to pass.
On the happy side, we haven't taken to drinking yet!The Valentine's day flood cleared the view so we can see the river and new falls from the cabin. The banks are sandy and full of great rocks washed down by the flood to sit upon and enjoy the rushing sound.
I suppose every flood has its good side if one takes time to lean into it. Today we planted 6 new fruit trees and pruned back some of the ones threatening to burst out in blossom.
God is good and we are thankful.
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