Making Photography Memories

Archive for February 4th, 2010

Actually, it should say… RECOVERY begins from the June 2008 flood we had here in Terre Haute, IN! My husband had lost his job in May 2008, the flood happened June 8, 2008, then we had tornado damage in July 2008!! Talk about the domino effect! Anyway, due to our circumstances, we ripped out the bottom half of most of the walls downstairs because we were starting to see black mold! However, we could not afford to make any “repairs” at the time so we have been using only the upstairs of our house since then!

You would think, as a photographer, that I would have ran down there to get all kinds of pictures before the demolition began… but I have to admit that we didn’t know until late Tuesday that they would be here at 9am on Wednesday to start this work! We stayed up until 3am going through everything and moving what we didn’t toss out upstairs! Only to get up a couple of hours later to finish up before they got here! I have to admit, my whole body and mind have been telling me ALL DAY that I am not made to do those kinds of things anymore! LOL~ Therefore, I fell into the trap that I stress so much to others NOT TO FALL INTO… Do not let these events in life get past you without photographs to document the memories! Take Pictures, take pictures… take pictures! Everything we do, every phase of life, they all make up the memories of our future!

Most walls were out... but what was left looked like this!

We were contacted by the Wabash Valley Disaster Relief Coalition back in Oct. because we had filed with FEMA after the 2008 flood… they are looking for people who still have not fully recovered from the flood… THAT WOULD BE US! So, they came out and did an evaluation and we have been approved to fix all of our damage downstairs!! ALL OF OUR DAMAGE! We had pulled out the bottom half of all of the walls (2 bedrooms, family room, utility room, laundry room & closets!), all the carpet got pulled up and we had black mold on what is left down there. We had burned a bed, our couch and end tables… Basically unlivable down there!

The Lord has truly provided a need that we have not been able to meet due to our current circumstances… We removed the problem, but were not in a situation where we could fix what we removed. However, those circumstances do not matter and I do not think finances are considered when they make their decisions, as long as you have proof that it is flood damage.

Long story short… if you still have flood damage or know somebody who does, do not hesitate to contact Wabash Valley Disaster Relief Coalition! They cover Clay, Vigo, Sullivan, Parke & Vermillion Counties in Indiana…. and it doesn’t matter if you rent or own your home… I think they will be finishing up by June 2010… the two year anniversary of the flood. They are looking for people to help, so it never hurts to see if they can help you!

Wabash Valley Disaster Relief Coalition
812-877-3639
www.wvdisasterrecovery.org I hope this information might help someone else!

I will keep you updated on our progress…