Help Danielle and Nick Replace Their Furnace

This is for my sister Danielle and brother in law Nick. They live in Hendersonville NC and their entire furnace/HVAC system was destroyed due to flooding. They don't live in a flood plane, so didn't even have the option to purchase flood insurance. They've applied for FEMA aid but were denied because they're still able to live in their house. It was warm when they applied, so living without a functional furnace was different then!

They are appealing, but have no idea how long that will take or if it will even make a difference. In the meantime, they've been dealing with trying to get a HELOC loan (which they won't underwrite for a house with no heat) and trying to make everything work. They've put the furnace on a credit card in order to move forward with the HELOC process and because they were worried about pipes freezing (temps have already been dropping down to the teens and 20s at night) and having even more damage to deal with.

Since getting the new furnace, they've learned that the massive amount of water actually changed the slope of the property and how the condensate pump was run before no longer works because it now runs back into the crawlspace. So, now they're dealing with grading, trenching, and installing a drainage system of some sort on top of all of that. They're also dealing with other damage; their screen door was torn off by the wind, which seems really minor, but now there's a draft that wasn't there before.

They lost power early Friday (9/27) morning, which meant no sump pump to keep the crawlspace dry, and the rain continued well into Friday. Their power was out for a week, so they were never able to use the sump pumps.

Nick got called into work Friday and wasn't able to make it home until after 11:00 Friday night due to all of the roads being flooded.

Danielle started working on a hand-siphon setup using a kerosene pump and water hose. Their awesome neighbors helped as much as they could.

Because of all of the water, and the fact that it got into all of the ductwork, they have to replace the furnace, coil, and plenums. The grand total is just under $11,000.00.

They had just completed work on the furnace in January, buying new parts, etc., and had every reason to believe they would have a working furnace for at least another three to five years.

Even dealing with a flooded crawl space they both continued to work in their neighborhood- sharing food, water, solar lights, fire supplies and charging neighbor’s phones in their cars. Any amount would

be greatly appreciated to help ensure they have a working furnace.