
Double flood re-build
Hello. My name is Mitch. I am trying to raise money so that I can re-build my house.
In May my house was completely flooded in the San Marcos, TX flood. I woke up around 6am on the morning of May 24th 2015. I went to get out of bed and when I put my foot over the edge of the bed it sank down into the flood water. I didn't know what to make of it at first or what to do. I was stranded on my bed with my dogs and had no way of getting out of the house on my own and no way to get my dogs out. I had been in a bad car accident just a few months earlier that had landed me in the hospital with bleeding on my brain in 2 places and a badly injured back. Moving around in normal situations had become harder for me and I knew that there was no way of getting out of my house without help. I called 911 and asked for their help. While waiting for the first responders to show up I could see the water rising more and more. When the fire department showed up, I yelled and yelled for them to come in. The rushing water and rain made it impossible for them to hear me and they left. I called 911 back and told them that I was still in the house and needed help. Eventually, the fire department came back and I was able to make it to the door to let them in. They told me to just grab one change of clothing and some shoes and they took my dogs for me. They took me up to the top of my driveway and told me that a bus would be coming to pick me up to take me to a shelter. Eventually my dogs and I made it to the shelter and I managed to get in touch with my daughter and son-in-law to come and get us. Almost everything that I owned was completely distroyed in the flood including my house and the car that my daughter and son-in-law had just bought me. My homeowners insurance did not cover anything for the flood and FEMA gave me limited funds to get the house rebuilt. We had managed to find some wonderful help from Americorp to get the demolition done in the house. Because of the flood there was mold and damage everywhere and we had to get rid of all of the walls, floors and everything else that was left inside of the house. We had been trying to figure out how we were going to rebuild the house when a second flood hit the area and my house on October 30th 2015. I had managed to save the basic items like toilets and sinks and a few other fixtures but the second flood took all of those items and tossed them around and broke them. Now we are back to square one. We have an amazing group of people from the Christian Aid Ministries and the United Methodist Commitee on Relief that are willing to help us completly re-build our house and we couldn't be more greatful for all of their help. The down side is that we don't have enough money for the re-build. We gave them all of the money that we had saved up and they have donated some money to help us but we are still falling short of what we need to re-build. We are asking for any help that we can get so that my house can be re-built and I can have a home again. The money will only be used for building supplies and other things such as electricians to re-wire the entire house, plumbers to fix the issues that
we now have, and other items such as doors, windows, a new ac/heating system, appliances, fixtures, etc. We will only have these volunteers for a short amount of time and need to raise the funds as quickly as we can. My family and I really do appreciate any help that we can get.
Please feel free to share my story with those in your life. Just because the news vans are gone and the story of the floods is behind us, does not mean that we don't still need help. I would like to be able to live in my own home again but can only do so with kind hearted individuals like yourself.
Thank you for taking the time to read my story.
Forever greatful,
Mitch