Louisiana Floods Destroy Home
Donation protected
Most people have heard about the catastrophic flooding in Louisiana in August due to nonstop torrential downfalls of rain over several days. We heard about it in our cars on the way to work or in our safe and dry homes on the evening news. And then we moved on to our normal routines thinking "Thank God that will never happen to me". I'm sure that's what people in Louisiana thought too before the rivers rose, including a member of our Arclin work family who lost it all.....literally in a matter of minutes.
To give you some perspective, the scale of this natural disaster is being compared to Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy. See some of the links I've provided below for more detail.
Robert Tilley, Corporate Automation Technician and a long time Arclin employee looking forward to retirement in a few years, watched as over the course of an hour his property went from bone dry to over a foot of water inside the house - that is not enough time to pack up and protect a lifetime of valuables, clothing, and memories. He had to leave his home in a boat with only 4 bags, his wife and 2 kids, and his neighbor and neighbor's dog. Ultimately the house took in 33 inches of water.
Everything else is gone - 3 vehicles totaled and appliances, furniture, clothes, and all the other things that make up a family home were ruined. Everything will have to be torn out and rebuilt or replaced.
Robert's home, along with most homes in that area were not covered by insurance as they do not lie within a high risk zone (the chance of flooding in his area is less than 0.2% or once in 500 years). He, along with 122,000 other households have applied for FEMA assistance and are waiting for a response, however FEMA only gives up to $33,000 in assistance and as a point of reference, the average assistance given after Katrina was $6,000.
For now they're staying with family until they can get into something more semi-permanent, but in the meantime the family does not have the resources to secure contractors or building materials. They are paying on a mortgage for a destroyed house and will have to go further into debt to pay for repairs which will be $75,000 - $100,000 just to get the house livable. We are asking our friends, family, and co-workers to imagine for a second what it would be like to be in their shoes and help out with whatever they feel they can give. The funds will go towards rebuilding their home and replacing the neccessities to live like replacement clothing, appliances, and the things that we daily take for granted. Even the smallest amount will go a long way.
Thank you for your support!
I've provided some links to details about the impact of the flood and FEMA's response to provide more detail, along with some pictures of Robert's home. For questions about tax deductions please go to https://www.gofundme.com/questions/
http://www.newsweek.com/flooded-louisiana-residents-without-insurance-costly-492224
https://weather.com/news/weather/news/louisiana-mississippi-gulf-coast-flooding-slideshow
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/mold-threatens-leave-thousands-more-homeless-after-louisiana-floods-n639771
https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2016/08/17/live-updates-what-you-need-know-about-flooding-louisiana
To give you some perspective, the scale of this natural disaster is being compared to Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy. See some of the links I've provided below for more detail.
Robert Tilley, Corporate Automation Technician and a long time Arclin employee looking forward to retirement in a few years, watched as over the course of an hour his property went from bone dry to over a foot of water inside the house - that is not enough time to pack up and protect a lifetime of valuables, clothing, and memories. He had to leave his home in a boat with only 4 bags, his wife and 2 kids, and his neighbor and neighbor's dog. Ultimately the house took in 33 inches of water.
Everything else is gone - 3 vehicles totaled and appliances, furniture, clothes, and all the other things that make up a family home were ruined. Everything will have to be torn out and rebuilt or replaced.
Robert's home, along with most homes in that area were not covered by insurance as they do not lie within a high risk zone (the chance of flooding in his area is less than 0.2% or once in 500 years). He, along with 122,000 other households have applied for FEMA assistance and are waiting for a response, however FEMA only gives up to $33,000 in assistance and as a point of reference, the average assistance given after Katrina was $6,000.
For now they're staying with family until they can get into something more semi-permanent, but in the meantime the family does not have the resources to secure contractors or building materials. They are paying on a mortgage for a destroyed house and will have to go further into debt to pay for repairs which will be $75,000 - $100,000 just to get the house livable. We are asking our friends, family, and co-workers to imagine for a second what it would be like to be in their shoes and help out with whatever they feel they can give. The funds will go towards rebuilding their home and replacing the neccessities to live like replacement clothing, appliances, and the things that we daily take for granted. Even the smallest amount will go a long way.
Thank you for your support!
I've provided some links to details about the impact of the flood and FEMA's response to provide more detail, along with some pictures of Robert's home. For questions about tax deductions please go to https://www.gofundme.com/questions/
http://www.newsweek.com/flooded-louisiana-residents-without-insurance-costly-492224
https://weather.com/news/weather/news/louisiana-mississippi-gulf-coast-flooding-slideshow
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/mold-threatens-leave-thousands-more-homeless-after-louisiana-floods-n639771
https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2016/08/17/live-updates-what-you-need-know-about-flooding-louisiana
Organizer and beneficiary
Mary Wessell Destiche
Organizer
Roswell, GA
Robert Tilley
Beneficiary