Help restore our property after bomb cyclone

Greetings Friends..... As you know, or may not know yet but are about to find out, we didn't fare well during the bomb cyclone that hit Eastside WA on Nov 19, 2024. Issaquah was one of the suburbs hit the hardest; Tiger Mountain and Mirrormont fared the worst.

As we found out later, the "bomb" development of low pressure landed squarely over Lake Washington, which caused a siphoning effect through the nearest valley and mountain passes, and winds reached an estimated 80-125 mph through our area.

Tiger Mountain is an old-growth forest filled with hemlocks and cedars, and every year we experience some winds that sometimes bring down a tree or two in the area (sometimes our yard). It's just something we've gotten used to living here, and we deal with it.

This storm, however, was different. This storm ravaged Tiger Mountain. Our tight-knit community was completely cut off the following morning from getting in or out due to downed trees, telephone poles, power lines, and giant root balls. It looked like the zombie apocalypse had befallen Tiger Mountain. Of all our neighbors, our home suffered the worst as a giant cedar snapped at the trunk and came crashing through our metal roof, collapsing our bedroom and my stepson's ceiling and through the hallway ceiling between the two rooms. Thankfully, no one was hurt. Our cars were hit, our shed was hit, our entire backyard fence on three adjoining properties had been crushed by crisscrossed fallen trees. All in all, we had about 15 trees fall on our property alone. We were without power for 7 days, water for 9 days, and internet still has yet to be restored. Thankfully, we can still live in the house and have moved our bedroom downstairs for the next few months. This is by far the most devastating disaster I've ever experienced.

I think it was Benjamin Franklin who first said, "There will be plenty of time to sleep when you're dead," and then from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, I'm reminded that "I'm not dead yet!" So now we rebuild....

Most of the damage incurred is covered by our homeowner's insurance; yes, thank goodness we have a good policy. What is not covered, we have discovered, is the debris clean-up. The removal of the tree from a structure is covered but not the disposal, so in layman's terms, we can cut the trees off the fence, but all the limbing, chopping, mulching, hauling, etc., of any debris NOT on a structure is not covered.... *can you feel my Kermit the Frog annoyed face meme through your screen?* Our ENTIRE property is covered with tree debris, and this part we have to do ourselves because storm removal companies are expensive and unavailable for 4-6 weeks.

Before I thought about GoFundMe, I did explore other routes...

1) Contacted our state representative - no response!

2) FEMA - can't apply for relief funds if your government has not declared a state of emergency - thanks for not doing that Gov Inslee!

3) King County support - well, they did extend the free debris drop-off date to local transfer stations to Dec 9 *annoyed face again* - We'll just take a week off of work to maybe get a quarter of our property buttoned up --> thanks King County!

If the glares of disdain for WA local government entities aren't burning through your screen by now, then you're not squinting hard enough. Many of you have asked me if you can help in any way, and although we are both way too proud to ask for money directly, I don't see any other option than to do the work ourselves over time. Between dumpster hauling, chipper and stump grinder rentals, and time, I estimate the cost will be about $5000 to get our property back to normal. This will be back-breaking work as winter in WA is cold and wet and everything gets heavier, but we will prevail and we're not dead yet. In lieu of donation, if you own or have a resource to share for a wood chipper, stump grinder, or dumpster hauling please message me personally through GoFundMe or via text.

We appreciate all the warm and caring thoughts we've received since the disaster, and if nothing else, thank you for reading this and sending those good vibes. If you have a few bucks to spare to help us in our efforts to restore our beloved Tiger Mountain property, we sincerely appreciate the help.

Thank you in advance from the bottom of my heart, and we wish everybody a warm and safe holiday.