Matney's Hurricane Michael Rebuild
Donation protected
"In hard times, it’s ok to accept help”. One never thinks that they will be the ones in the hard time. Unfortunately it is a hard time for us, thanks to Hurricane Michael, and we’ve already accepted so much amazing help from friends and family, we simply feel blessed and humbled.
On October 10th, our home was a mere 12 miles from where Hurricane Michael made landfall. Our beach community was ravished by winds approaching a category 5 hurricane, and then came the water.
Thank God, our family was well out of harm's way as we waited in a hotel for the fate of our home and our business. By the grace of God, our store was largely spared with only some minor roof damage and a heavily flooded warehouse, but the store remained. It stood there, a little banged up, but there as a sign to everyone that one day, this area would be back.
Our house didn’t fare as well. We live one block from one of this nation’s most beautiful bodies of water, St. Joseph Bay. The saltwater that was pushed on shore was relentless and devastating to a degree that the photos you’ve seen just don’t explain it at all.
Our home had about 3’ of the nastiest water you can imagine in the entire living portions of the home, and closer to 5’ in the laundry room and the garage which sit on the slab. Our house was built well, back in the 40’s and it held up like a champ even as the oak trees crashed down on the back patio and our son’s play room. This house stood tall and proud. Our house fought back the water and the wind, but our personal belongings had no chance. The water destroyed everything from waist high down, and many things higher as mold set in fast.
Our home will be rebuilt, and we feel blessed that we even have that to start with. Others just up the highway a few minutes in Mexico Beach, have even less. Please pray for all those in this area, we all need your prayers.
As we write this, Claire, Crue and Court are in Seattle staying with Claire’s mom, Cate. Tyler is living in our new “home” (a 30 ft camping trailer) in the driveway. Claire’s dad, Wayne, is there for 10 days helping clean up the debris and help with the house demo crew.
We are already eagerly awaiting the completion of this extensive repair work so we can get back into our home and begin the next phase of our life, a completely new chapter. We expect to be living in the camper for 8-12 months if it all goes smoothly.
We have had so many ask what they can do, what we need, and we've dodged the question because it’s hard to be the one in need. So here is your chance and an answer to the question on how you can help the four of us. Insurance, we pray will help cover the cost of rebuilding our home, but we will need to replace every piece of furniture, nearly every toy, book, crayon, appliances, tools, clothes, shoes, you name it. If you don't want to donate money, we just started getting mail again and welcome hand me downs, etc. Our address is 1010 Palm Blvd, Port St Joe, FL 32456. It’s an overwhelming mountain to look up at to start from scratch.
Thank you so much for letting us tell our story. That in itself is a gift, and until now we haven’t told it in its entirety. This has been a hard thing to see, experience and talk about. We appreciate any support and your continued prayers.
Our home in PSJ, 2 weeks after the hurricane. The debris piles are heartbreaking. 10/24/18
Kids details:
Court (turns 2yrs old in Feb 2019) wears 2T pants and tops, 4T pj’s, 7 shoes, size 4 diapers
Crue (turns 6yrs old in May, 2019) wears 7/8 in pants and tops, 11in shoes
On October 10th, our home was a mere 12 miles from where Hurricane Michael made landfall. Our beach community was ravished by winds approaching a category 5 hurricane, and then came the water.
Thank God, our family was well out of harm's way as we waited in a hotel for the fate of our home and our business. By the grace of God, our store was largely spared with only some minor roof damage and a heavily flooded warehouse, but the store remained. It stood there, a little banged up, but there as a sign to everyone that one day, this area would be back.
Our house didn’t fare as well. We live one block from one of this nation’s most beautiful bodies of water, St. Joseph Bay. The saltwater that was pushed on shore was relentless and devastating to a degree that the photos you’ve seen just don’t explain it at all.
Our home had about 3’ of the nastiest water you can imagine in the entire living portions of the home, and closer to 5’ in the laundry room and the garage which sit on the slab. Our house was built well, back in the 40’s and it held up like a champ even as the oak trees crashed down on the back patio and our son’s play room. This house stood tall and proud. Our house fought back the water and the wind, but our personal belongings had no chance. The water destroyed everything from waist high down, and many things higher as mold set in fast.
Our home will be rebuilt, and we feel blessed that we even have that to start with. Others just up the highway a few minutes in Mexico Beach, have even less. Please pray for all those in this area, we all need your prayers.
As we write this, Claire, Crue and Court are in Seattle staying with Claire’s mom, Cate. Tyler is living in our new “home” (a 30 ft camping trailer) in the driveway. Claire’s dad, Wayne, is there for 10 days helping clean up the debris and help with the house demo crew.
We are already eagerly awaiting the completion of this extensive repair work so we can get back into our home and begin the next phase of our life, a completely new chapter. We expect to be living in the camper for 8-12 months if it all goes smoothly.
We have had so many ask what they can do, what we need, and we've dodged the question because it’s hard to be the one in need. So here is your chance and an answer to the question on how you can help the four of us. Insurance, we pray will help cover the cost of rebuilding our home, but we will need to replace every piece of furniture, nearly every toy, book, crayon, appliances, tools, clothes, shoes, you name it. If you don't want to donate money, we just started getting mail again and welcome hand me downs, etc. Our address is 1010 Palm Blvd, Port St Joe, FL 32456. It’s an overwhelming mountain to look up at to start from scratch.
Thank you so much for letting us tell our story. That in itself is a gift, and until now we haven’t told it in its entirety. This has been a hard thing to see, experience and talk about. We appreciate any support and your continued prayers.
Our home in PSJ, 2 weeks after the hurricane. The debris piles are heartbreaking. 10/24/18
Kids details:
Court (turns 2yrs old in Feb 2019) wears 2T pants and tops, 4T pj’s, 7 shoes, size 4 diapers
Crue (turns 6yrs old in May, 2019) wears 7/8 in pants and tops, 11in shoes
Organizer
Claire Matney
Organizer
Port Saint Joe, FL
