The Wedding and Flood Disaster: Special Edition

Andrea and I have had major basement and property damage from the remnant of Ida that hit the Bronx.

When we first started looking at houses in 2019, the first thing I did for every address was to check the flood zone on NYC and FEMA maps. I was very pleased that the home we bought was in X--"minimal risk."

The best laid plans...The sewer intake on this street does not do its job very well. On a mildly rainy day, a big pond grows at the corner. During the wettest hour in NYC history, it was under water that was knee-high on me. A pipe that was supposed to push water away from our house, broke.

Andrea measured 21 inches of water--a multiple of the water that came in during our sewer line break in 2019. The damage has been much greater.

Furnace--dead.

Washing machine--dead.

Dryer--dead.

Andrea's sound recording equipment, that she uses to audition for paying roles--some damaged, some destroyed.

Water heater--control system damaged.

We just had a new roof and siding put on to save money on energy costs, and this is a total blindside.

And, yes, we are still having the church wedding this coming Thursday. So if you wanted to know what we needed/wanted, the answer today is very different from what it was this time last week.

We think some of this may be covered by insurance, and we are filing claims everywhere we can, but there is still a deductible of $1,000. The repairs to the water heater are, of course, happening over a holiday weekend, if we're lucky. We aren't sure when we'll have hot water again.

We are reaching out to all the contractors our friends have recommended, but given the extent of the trouble up here, most are up to their eyeballs in work.

Any help is gratefully received.