Hurricane Ian Relief for Charlie and Lanae Waldrup

Hi everyone,

As many of you know, my parents, Charlie and Lanae Waldrup are residents of North Fort Myers, FL.  Their home is located on one of the many canals in the area. During Hurricane Ian their home was flooded with 5 feet of water. While they prepared as much as they could before evacuating, there is little that can be done against 5 feet of water invading a home.  

As you can imagine, the devastation was total. This includes the recent repairs to their dock, the new AC unit they just installed 4 months ago, all appliances, furniture, personal affects, electronics and Dad's tools and motorcycle. Additionally, they have structural damage to the home including the drywall, doors and windows.  

Now for some additional background information most of you didn't know...

Dad spent the last 2 months doing upgrades and repairs to their home in anticipation of putting it on the market to sell. They were set to go live with their listing this weekend... what turned out to be 3 days after Ian made landfall. Ironically, they were hoping to move because they were concerned about the potential of future flooding should a large hurricane hit the area.

I'm sure you all can imagine how emotionally and financially devastated they are by this flood. In addition to their physical home and irreplaceable personal affects, they also lost the time, energy and money they spent on the home in the last 2 months to get it ready to list.  

Many of you have reached out and asked about ways you could help. This gofundme is the answer to that question. Every little bit helps and everything raised will go directly to them to help replace what they can and rebuild their lives.

Seth and Jena went down this weekend to help Mom and Dad salvage what they can and begin the cleanup efforts. I hope to go down as well within the next month.  

While Mom and Dad do have flood insurance, it was a smaller policy as they never dreamed of a flood this catastrophic happening. They are also planning to reach out to FEMA.  

Finally (but most importantly), we ask for prayers. Prayers for God's comfort during this difficult time. Prayers for their safety as they begin to clean and rebuild. Prayers for everyone affected by Hurricane Ian and all those who have gone to Florida to help begin sorting through rubble and attempting to reclaim their lives. 

Thank you to all of you for reaching out, for praying and for being here for them during this difficult time. 

-Kristin Sanders