Support the Merritt Family's Flooded Home Recovery

Please help Harley, Ashley, and their family with the expenses associated with being flooded from their home twice within seven weeks and the cost of restoring their home and personal belongings after the flood damage.

Early on the morning of Sunday, February 16th, Harley and Ashley awoke to water surrounding their house and rising quickly. They raised their important home furnishings off the floor, grabbed their most essential items, and loaded their two kids, two dogs, and four cats in their camper and evacuated with the water up to the bottom of the SUV doors as they left to stay at a campground.

The water continued to rise and Harley went back to the house with kayaks to move more belongings up off the floor before the water came into the house flooding their home.

Harley and his family remained in a campground for almost two weeks through the cold and snow waiting for the water to recede at the house before they returned to live in the camper at their property.

They ended up with water 4 to 6 inches above their main level flooring which caused the hardwood floors to curl and buckle as soon as the water receded despite their best efforts to pump out water, run dehumidifiers, cut and remove wet drywall and wall insulation, etc.

One of their cars was totaled from being underwater, and the motorcycles, the kids’ battery operated toys, gasoline powered lawn equipment including the riding mower were all completely submerged under water.

No flood insurance was available for them to purchase since they're not located in a flood zone. They applied for disaster relief from FEMA, but the amount they were granted was far too low to restore their home which Harley believes will cost at least $20,000 minimum in just materials alone after cutting out the drywall, insulation, one bathroom full of fixtures, trim, doors, and the flooring even if he did it all himself.

As Harley and Ashley were gathering repair estimates to appeal the FEMA decision, Southern Kentucky was hit by multiple days of heavy rain again and on Saturday, April 5th after moving their valuable possessions to friends’ homes and raising the items off the floor once again, Harley, Ashley, the kids, and the six pets were forced to evacuate their home in their camper to stay at a campground on higher ground.

Could you please contribute to help the members of this beautiful family with the expenses associated with having to evacuate their home, the removal of the damaged home construction materials, and the costs associated with restoring the drywall, insulation, flooring, bathroom fixtures, trim, doors, crawlspace mold remediation, painting, etc. so that they can move back into their home?

Thank you so much for your kindness and generosity during this difficult time for the Merritt Family. We, their parents, are all very grateful.