Help Replace our flood-damaged Car

Hello! I’m Linzhe Obando - most of you visiting probably know me as Ms. Obando, eternally-cheerful front desk extraordinaire and semi-friendly tech fairy of MIMS. I am not sure where else to ask, so I’ll ask here-I need help trying to replace my car.

On August 16th, 2021, I was driving away from work through heavy rain. I was trying to maneuver around the flooded streets, and I took a wrong turn trying to go through the neighborhood and got stuck in water, right behind the school. Terrified, I tried to call a tow truck as the water rose, eventually leaking inside of the car. After an hour, I finally left my car and sloshed through the flooded street and waited on campus for my equally-scared husband to get an Uber to pick me up.

My father-in-law, in a taller vehicle, was able to make it to our side of town to take us back to the car once the water receded. When we arrived, almost three hours after I had initially gotten stuck, we waited another two hours for our insurance to send a tow truck to at least take it to our apartment complex. As of today, August 17th, it’s still sitting outside, cleaned out of important things, with some water still pooled at the bottom of the car seats.

When we filed our claim, our insurance company told us that since water got inside the car, it would be marked as a total loss. We were heartbroken, because we had just finished paying off the car and had barely received the title two weeks ago. My husband and I haven’t been able to afford buying another car, and having just paid off this one while pouring funds into our current ongoing family emergency, only for this to happen, is devastating to say the least.

Thank goodness the insurance covers a rental car, but they will only cover for so long, and natives will know that we can’t get around this city without a car. If we can get enough for a down payment on a decent used car (I’m seriously considering something taller after this whole ordeal), it would help a lot.

Thanks in advance, y’all! I am forever grateful for whatever you can give. I hope to see you at the front desk again really soon. ❤️