Rebuild Hope for Mike and son James Post-Hurricane

Hi everyone, I’m creating this GoFundMe for an Ironworker and Bragg brother in need, Mike Jones and his 11-year-old son James. They were temporarily displaced from their home due to flooding during and after Hurricane Milton. Mike is an outstanding single father who would gladly give the shirt off his own back for anyone. He’s such a humble brother, so I’m creating this on behalf of him and his son for your help.

During the storm and after, he and James lost a majority of their belongings (including food, clothes, beds, furniture, and toys) due to flooding and rain pouring in through the roof. I’d like to share his story in his own words.

“Starting off, I want to thank all of my family at Bragg for checking on me as well as trying to find a way to help my son James and I. We hunkered down Wednesday in preparation for the storm. I checked windows and went around the property. Although the storm was getting bad, we tried to get some shut-eye around 10-10:30 pm.

We were awakened an hour later to water flooding into his room via the windows and the ceiling lights. The power kept going on and off, which was expected, but it went completely out during the early hours of the morning, which unfortunately ruined all the food that I had bought for us recently. I was lucky enough, even though probably not the smartest choice, to go out at 2:30 am to move the vehicle where I had previously parked it. There was already a foot of water throughout the neighborhood. I finally managed to find some higher ground 10 minutes away. I parked the vehicle there and made my way back home. The back of the house has 5 steps up to my landing and door. Once the water had reached the landing, there were still a lot of electrical surges throughout the neighborhood, and my son was getting scared. At around 4:30 am, I called non-emergency rescue services to come get us.

Once daylight hit and the rain had slowed, we tried to get all the important things off the floors before we left, which caused my couch to break from the weight. The water that flooded in my son's room ruined the ceiling, his bed, and most of his toys, including his plushie collection. We managed to use all the towels, blankets, and sheets we could find to help keep the water out as well as to get the water up. Around 12 pm, rescue showed up but told us that the electricity to the neighborhood was completely out and to just be careful leaving. We walked in waist-deep water out of the neighborhood and then 3 miles or so to Ocean Inn beachside and stayed the night. When we returned, the power was still out, and all the food had gone bad. I started to clean the house, which was in really bad shape. But it was a true blessing that no one was hurt and we were together.

The week without work for this will/has hurt, not to mention the storm before, but we are thrifty and with support from my brothers and sisters at Bragg who constantly checked and ensured us that we will be fine. I feel truly blessed to have the opportunity and health to be a part of this family.