Please Help Support Nick’s Recovery from Hurricane Helene

Hurricane Helene took its toll on so many people’s lives. One of them is very personal to me and has impacted my nephew, Nicholas Kelly. He recently moved from NJ to Madeira Beach, FL one short month ago. Fortunately he evacuated the single story house he was renting and Thank God he is safe, but unfortunately, he only has the clothes that he left with, his truck (maybe his bicycle), a coffee maker, some dishes and his jetski. Everything else was totally destroyed in the house from the storm and now sits in piles of rubbish on the street.

Not only was there a 7 foot storm surge, which may have made it ‘easier’ for us to try to save some things, but the sewage system backed up into the entire house rendering his home uninhabitable and almost all of his belongings not salvageable.

I started this GoFundMe for Nick because to make matters worse, his renters insurance claim was denied. He’s still trying with that and applied for FEMA, but chances are slim, it could take quite awhile and even so, it likely would not cover his losses. He’s living with me for now and looking for a new place that is not in a flood zone like so many others are, who are in a similar situation. Rental homes are at an all time high and require heavy upfront costs. Not to mention the costs of moving here such a short time ago.

If there’s any amount you can donate to help him, it would be greatly appreciated and would mean so much.

Thank you kindly for your donation,

Chrissy

Details

After the hurricane moved on from here, the gulf roads had 4ft of sand and were impassable for days. When we were finally allowed on the barrier island Monday, we expected it to be a ‘search and rescue’ mission so I stocked up on bleach and all kinds of cleaning supplies. From the outside it didn’t look so bad. However, once inside, what we found was everything tossed around as if it was in a washing machine, along with an indescribable, disgusting smell and were confronted with the reality of the overwhelmingly daunting task that we had in front of us. Fecal matter, raw sewage, gasoline, 3 day old contaminated saltwater that had inebriated all of his belongings and the stench was just foul. Black mold was already starting to form. There was no power, no water. We didn’t know where to begin, but we rolled up our sleeves, donned our N95 masks, gloves and boots in the unforgiving Florida heat and began going through all of his stuff’ one by one.

At first you don’t realize how bad things are and pics simply don’t do it justice. Boxes completely saturated with wet fecal matter and their contents totally not salvageable. Anything metal had already rusted, from silverware, all-clad cookware to wire hangers which rusted onto clothes, batteries that burst and corroded.

I realize these are ‘things’, but they were his belongings. Among them were clothes, shoes, electronics, appliances, guitars, amps, suitcases, sentimental items from his childhood memories, his first guitar, photos, yearbooks, college degrees, books, tuxedo from singing at Carnegie Hall and other special items. Of course these things he will not get back in original form but he will always have those memories and we will do our best to help him get back to ‘normal’.

Thank you so much for your support!