- H
Early in the morning of August 9, 2025--less than a month after we'd closed on our house, shortly after our daughter's first birthday, a few days before our second wedding anniversary, and during Julie's first overnight trip away from the baby(!)--our home flooded. Water filled our basement to its ceiling and came in through our front and back doors, rising as high as seven inches on our ground level and 30 inches in the garage! Thankfully, we are all okay. But our house is severely damaged, and we lost many things--from keepsakes that can't be replaced to baby birthday presents that had yet to be played with. Tom's car was also totaled.
Though we had homeowner's insurance and a home warranty, it is looking like the only thing that for which we will receive insurance money is Tom's car. Expedited mold remediation will cost us about $11,000, before accounting for the need to replace drywall and flooring in much of the basement and ground level. We have already spent about $3,000 on flood-related electrical and plumbing work. We likely lost most or all of our major appliances in the basement (water heater, furnace, washer and dryer). We are not yet sure about the fate of some other things, such as our air conditioner. Friends have generously loaned or given us many baby essentials, but there are still things to replace from the flood casualties, such as living room furniture, suitcases, baby toys, books Julie uses for work, etc. We will likely be displaced for a few weeks as well.
As Tom is still a graduate student, we are mostly a single-income family without a lot of financial margin--yet we don't qualify for the low-interest loans available to flood victims in our area. FEMA has yet to be activated, and one of our largest repair bills will need to be paid as soon as next week.
Alongside the worry and grief that we feel in this overwhelming situation, we've felt so very grateful for the many friends, colleagues, and neighbors (many of you!) who have already given us substantial practical help, whether by offering a place to stay or by helping us sort through, clean up, and throw away the various forms of flood-damaged grossness. We continue to be thankful, too, for the prayers and well-wishes of friends and family, near and far.
Now, we are seeking financial assistance to help us navigate the many expenses associated with this disaster. Thank you for considering donating to our cause as you are able!
UPDATE 8/30/25 - We want to express our deep gratitude to all who have donated, whether via GoFundMe or directly to us. Here is a partial update on the ongoing work at our house: As perhaps was to be expected, more repair needs have emerged as the work has gotten underway. In particular, we will need to tear out at least the lower part of our kitchen cabinets, as well as a built-in china cabinet. The kitchen cabinets will need to be replaced. We've confirmed the need to replace our furnace and hot water heater; the a/c seems fixable, but we are waiting to see about our washer and dryer and other appliances. Removing drywall has exposed lead paint in the basement and elsewhere, and in some places we simply have a hole where there used to be walls. Since it seems likely that we'll be out of the home for longer than hoped-for, we're working on lining up temporary housing via a month-to-month rental, but of course that expense will be on top of our mortgage (which is so new that September will be our first payment due!).