What Peet says about this disaster...

(Nederlandse vertaling/Dutch translation: http://helpdevandijkjes.blogspot.com/2011/09/uit-het-relaas-van-peet.html )

“Dear all, thanks to everyone for all the support and sweet notes. These have definitely helped me feel better.

The situation is still pretty bad. Our motel has completely flooded, and everything inside is pretty much lost, including the carpet, all of our electrical appliances and cables, heater, furniture, washer and dryer, you name it. We were able to save some of the televisions and refrigerators. The water rose so quickly that there was really very little we could do. The bridge that ran across the creek has been completely wiped out. Our own home is partially dry, although the basement is flooded with about three of water, in spite of our two pumps which pump out 10 000 gallons of water per hour. Because of this, our heater pump has most likely died, especially since we couldn’t get it to work last week after Irene dumped all that water on us.

We expect the damage to be considerable. We don’t have any flood insurance. This is not the result of ignorance or reluctance on our part. It’s just that after the 2006 NY floods, the flood zone was changed so often, that no one really knew what zone we were in. The insurance companies took advantage of this, which meant our flood insurance was too expensive. And I’m talking about enough money to buy yourself a very nice new car every year (and not that I’d rather do that, but just to give you an idea of how much money it is). A motel is not a huge moneymaker, and we simply could not afford it, especially since the motel is a combination of private and commercial buildings. Had it just been a private building, the insurance would have been far cheaper.

We will indeed have to rely on FEMA, otherwise we will not make it. And not just because of our physical losses, but also because of loss of income. The motel has been evacuated, and I won’t be able to take in any guests anytime soon, while our bills will keep coming in. I won’t be able to last long that way.

At the moment we are stunned and defeated. We’ve worked incredibly hard for all of this, and then within a few hours you see the water taking over your motel, knowing what the consequences of the swirling flood of mud will be. And all you can do is stand there and watch it unfold. Not even sandbags could have helped, as the water also rises up into the motel from the basement underneath the building. At a moment like that, you lose all hope.

But we’re safe, and at the end of the day, it’s only physical damage. How to go on from here? Right now, I really don’t know. “

Yesterday, she wrote this on her blog:

“We hadn’t expected the extensive damage to the ground, huge pieces of the land and the concrete between the motel and the creek are gone. At the front of the property, there’s a hole that’s 6 meters (18 feet) long and 2 meters (6 feet) wide. It’s just unbelievable how much water there is everywhere….”

(Thank you, Judith, for your translation!)