Flood of 2016 Journal 2

After we got to Vicksburg we anxiously watched the constant stream of news about the flooding all around our home for the next several days. I remember one story that was played several times about the rescue of a woman and her dog. They got the woman out first and I think the whole country held their breath as she kept pleading that they save her dog… and they did… even now I feel that sting in my nose and eyes… Its hard to explain even to myself how dependent I am on my little dog BG… She’s the ‘child’ of my older years in a way…

We made plans to return to the Baton Rouge area Monday. We booked a room but when I called Monday the motel clerk kept saying they didn’t know if the room would be available as they were full and even though I had reserved the room they couldn’t make people leave if they needed to extend their stay. There were still areas that hadn’t flooded yet but the news reports indicated that it was probable that more areas would be flooded. There were many road closings and we didn’t know if we’d be able to get to our home if we did get back closer to home.

We were a bit confused about the best thing to do so we decided perhaps we should stay in Vicksburg for a few more days. The next morning I called the hotel we had had reservations at from the day before. They said they had a vacancy so I booked the room and we gathered our things and headed home. We stopped at a local Home Depot and bought mold armor and other things we anticipated needing to repair the ravages left by the flood. You have to treat the studs of your home with mold armor but there are lots of things that have to happen before you reach that point.

We bought boots to put on before walking around or in our home. I was very afraid of the stories I had been reading about snakes in or around the flooded homes. Unfortunately the boots rubbed blisters on both my feet and those blisters opened and I have been dealing with infections in both feet. Sometimes you just got to deal with it. Richard and I both ended up with respiratory infections and the doctor prescribed antibiotics for both of us. Hopefully that will all clear up soon. I have heard there have been so many people needing antibiotics for infections that it has caused a strain on the supply. My lungs are much clearer but Richard continues to be quite congested.

We were able to drive to our house that Tuesday. The whole area was dark and the stink was awful. We walked through the house. The refrigerator, and it’s a big refrigerator… had floated up and when it came down it was laying on the floor on its back. On top of the refrigerator is a soup tureen that had been on top of the refrigerator… It belonged to Richard’s parents… a family member gave it to them… it came from Italy… The soup tureen was there… bowl and lid… not a crack… I looked without much hope in the space between the top of the refrigerator and the wall for the platter for the tureen… Oh wow!!! It was laying there in that space just wide enough so that I guess as the water went down the platter gently floated to the floor… I immediately ran some water and added soap and bleach and scrubbed the tureen and platter… I found the ladle a couple of days ago… perfect… I bet I laid the ladle aside when I washed the tureen and platter… I didn’t remember so I was really pleased when I found it…

We took pictures but my pictures don’t show up very well at all as it was dark and gloomy inside the house. Richard took a lot of pictures and I will try to upload some of them soon. There were so many many things to do… We went from one room to another wondering how we’d ever get the mess cleared away. We’re still doing that.

We hired a family member and his friends to clear the house. It didn’t turn out so well. We didn’t provide a lot of direction because they frankly seemed to ignore our directions. We felt quite helpless. They tended to be more interested in getting done than in trying to work slowly, steadily, carefully with an eye to preserving the things that could be saved. In addition some credit cards were taken. At the end of the day we found that we believe we will be better off hiring strangers. I include this information so that others facing the difficulties with having to have help and finding someone to help will know they’re not alone. These things happen all too often.

Things like this seem to bring out the worst and the best in people. Individually and the organized charities. I tend not to trust the big organized helping agencies. I can’t say I feel any better about them really. I honestly believe we the people need to know how the monies for this and all such disasters are handled. I very much fear we will find there’s lots of underhanded dealings going on and they’re nothing new. I am grateful for the many gifts of the spirit we have received.

Like everyone we just have to keep putting one foot in front of the other. I definitely get discouraged and I know lots of people all over this area do too. I do see light somewhere way down there… Reminds me of an old saying… “Make haste slowly…”

Saying prayers for all of us.