What Peet says about the disaster (part3)

(Nederlandse vertaling: http://helpdevandijkjes.blogspot.com/2011/09/uit-het-relaas-van-peet-deel-3.html)

September 10:

Slowly, very slowly there appears some light at the end of the tunnel. We have electricity again in the motel, and warm water is working again.

In our house the warm water supply cannot be repaired. Not just because things got wet, but the whole heater fell over. So we’re doing the dishes and taking showers in the motel.

Room 7 was being renovated and we’re using it for storage. All the furniture will go in that room, and then we’ll see how the furniture has held up after everything has dried.

I was under the assumption that our floors were concrete, but they are not. They are wooden and therefore soaking wet.

Room 8 is now empty and can dry. Today we’re starting with room 9. We have quite a few permanent guests, and most of them aren’t even fazed by the water. They slept in our house this week, and they’re not planning to leave. Even though they got their feet wet. The floors in those rooms were sucked dry, but it’s never-ending -- keeps being wet.

The damage to the furniture is not as bad as I had feared, and some of it can certainly be saved. The damage to the building and grounds on the other hand, is very disappointing. Never thought that whole pieces of ground can simply disappear. Furniture you can buy in a store, but where do you go for ground?

There’s also damage on the bridge over the road. The state came to take a look, but I doubt if they can do much for us.

Of course I’ve talked to FEMA. That’s an emergency fund for natural disasters, also for people without insurance. We’re not the only ones without insurance for flooding, in fact, I haven’t talked to anybody who DOES have insurance. I can hear you say: well, that’s pretty stupid. Unfortunately, insurances are so expensive that it becomes unaffordable for most folks. Certainly for a combination of personal and commercial property. Just unaffordable – equivalent to a year of college.

Help is coming from all sides. Neighbours, residents… you name it. But also from very unexpected corners. This morning I got a call from Annemiek. A fellow-blogger who lives two hours from here. Don’t ask me why but I’ve never met here before. That’s changing because she’s coming here tomorrow to help out. Unbelievable… you don’t expect these things.

Also: yesterday GJ received $100 from someone who he met at the bank – somebody he doesn’t even know very well. GJ didn’t want to accept it but there was no way to say ‘no’, she insisted. She had driven by, and thought he could definitely use it.

And then the initiative by fellow-bloggers/readers/amerika forum… The response is incredible. I don’t really know how to deal with it… we do feel a little bit awkward. But it is so very well meant. And I’m not the type of person that easily accepts help. At the moment, I really have no choice. If I hear how much has been collected, I am really flabbergasted. Most of people we don’t even know personally! Even though they read a blog about us, we are still strangers to each other. And then this response… I just can’t believe it.

The costs of the repairs and renovations of the rooms and heating system are too high to pay at once. Waiting is not an option either, so the rooms in the motel have to be operational as soon as possible to generate income. I still have my mortgage to pay.

Our previous owner gave us a call yesterday. Even though there’s little he can do, just the fact that he gave a call is great. In times like these you learn again exactly who your friends are. Not that family can help much, but just the fact that they call, and that they tell us that things will be okay is terrific. Just to be able to tell your story.

Very slowly the neighborhood is getting back on its feet. Fewer roadblocks. The one in front of our house is still there. Yesterday there was still 3 feet of water on the road, and a stubborn neighbor wanted to get through it. Got stuck. Troopers came, a ticket, and the car had to be towed out…

I’m not the only one in trouble. At my friend’s, where we were sitting on the porch last Saturday, there is now water on the porch. Some told us this morning that his house is gone, simply flooded away. Children at school with Aleysha who had lost their home in 2006 and now again… Because 2006 was supposed to be a once-in-a-100-years flood. Unfortunately, this flood was even worse then in 2006.

Pictures on Peet’s blog: http://vandijkjes.punt.nl/?id=558560&r=1

Thank you, Guus, for your translation!

What Peet says about the disaster (part 2)

(Nederlandse vertaling: http://helpdevandijkjes.blogspot.com/2011/09/uit-het-relaas-van-peet-deel-2.html)

Friday, September 9^th:

"As expected, everything in the motel rooms is ruined. The furniture is waterlogged, the carpet is brown with mud and will need to be removed. It smells like a stinky river in every room, and unrecognizable debris that was left behind by the water still floats around in the motel rooms. Unfortunately, both the buildings and the grounds have suffered damage: portions of the terrain have been washed away, the bank of the creek has been wiped out, and there is water flowing along he side of the motel. As a result of this, we have major moisture issues.

The firefighters have stopped by to help pump water out from underneath the buildings. The motel is still flooded, but pumping it away further is useless as the creek is as high as the water underneath the buildings. The firefighters will stop by tomorrow to resume pumping. Our own pumps can't handle the volume of water right now. The water heater and the furnace are still completely submerged, both at the house and the hotel.

Today we're going to start literally squeegee the water out from the rooms so the building can dry, although at this point, we're not sure where to start..."

(Thank you, Judith, for your translation!)

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!)