As many around the country are aware, there was massive flash flooding in southeast Wisconsin on Sunday, August 10. The city that was hit the worst was West Allis, WI. My sister Carly, her husband Nick, and their 14-month-old son Julian live just south of State Fair Park in West Allis and woke up at 3:00 am on Sunday morning to the sound of families on their street being evacuated. They looked outside to see at least four feet of water flowing down their street, with Carly's car almost completely submerged. When they went downstairs, they could hear water pouring into their basement.

Carly and Nick ended up having six feet of water in their basement, resulting in basically a total loss of all of their belongings in the basement, ranging from personal mementos to baby supplies to all of their mechanical equipment (e.g., furnace, AC unit, water heater, main electrical panel, and more). Carly's car is totaled, and Nick's car is currently questionable as it undergoes assessment. As you can imagine, this has been an incredibly challenging, emotional, and expensive time with no coverage from insurance for the flood.

Carly and Nick are putting in their own labor, time, and money to do what they can to fix their first home, but so much of the cost of this is unavoidable. As of right now, they have over $20,000 in costs to replace the mechanical equipment in the basement, pipes due to additional corrosion, electrical panel, breakers, and outlets. This doesn't include replacing Carly's car and of course the many other personal belongings that were lost, including baby supplies (car seats, bassinet, bouncers, baby clothes/gear), washer/dryer, chest freezer, $3,000 in home tools, $2,500 in furniture, and the many, many personal keepsakes that cannot ever be replaced.

Any help that you can provide Carly and Nick would go toward these significant expenses that they currently face as well as the ones not yet identified as the work continues. If you have met Carly and Nick, you know how much they go out of their way to support family and friends, and I hope we can do the same for them in this time of immense need. Thank you so much for considering, and please share with your community/network if possible.