House Recovery Fund

Hurricane Irma made her mark on Mike and Jen's once beautiful home on Black Creek.  During Hurricane Irma, the water levels in thier home rose higher than they have ever seen before with the highest mark at 5 feet inside.  Mike was working the night shift at an Emergency Operations Center and Jen was at home updating Mike on the rising water.  When the water reached the back door, Mike told Jen to grab whatever she could and leave quickly.  Jen was able to get out of the house before the water got too high inside their home but a lifetime of pictures, memories, and personal items were completely lost.  Mike and Jen have flood insurance and figured they could pick up the pieces with the insurance money but they are quickly realizing that the money isn't going to cover full replacement value (70 percent of actual construction costs), cost of renting a home while their home is under construction ($1,200-$1,400 per month for 10-12 months) while still paying their current mortgage, the cost of the $5,000 flood insurance deductable, and the cost of replacing many items like windows ($6,000) and siding ($6,000) that the insurance adjuster does not believe will be covered even though the windows are still holding water internally and the siding is already starting to grow mold.  In all, Mike and Jen will need to pay tens of thousands of dollars to put their home back together properly, over and above what the insurance covers.  They plan to fight the insurance company but this will take more time and more money.  As for the outside of the house, this falls into the Home Owners Hurricane Insurance.  Once they figure in the 2% Hurricane deductible, Mike and Jen will need to completely pay out of pocket to put the pieces back together with minimal to no compensation from insurance.  They are still trying to figure out the total out of pocket cost but the range will land somewhere between $20,000 - $30,000 depending on the "good neighbor" insurance adjuster.  Many friends and family have already helped by removing their 30 years of memories and personal effects and placing them on the curb for disposal and completely gutting the home.  This was done by volunteers since the insurance adjuster viewed the damage and told them he would get back to them in 30 days with an estimate for starting demolition.  Please help us support our friends Mike and Jen during this tough time in their lives and lets help them pick up the pieces.