Susan,
I am soooo sorry to hear about your sister's house flooding. How horrible. I haven't been on GW much the past couple of days and had no idea she was in danger. I've been seeing all the flooding on the news though, and it is heartbreaking. I will keep Sally in my prayers and do hope that she'll be able to salvage as much of her home as possible. I'm sorry she has lost so much but glad she saved her pets and herself. Thank God her son is nearby for her to stay with until the worst of it is over.

My daughter lives down by Dallas on Lake Lewisville. She's had water seeping into her home for several weeks now. Seeping in, not flooding through it. She's still young and has called me in tears several times, ready to move because of the flooding. Her carpet is ruined, and some of her furniture is falling apart from being damp for so long. She's been invaded by fleas, and she doesn't even have any pets! I'm sure the fleas are coming inside her home because her yard and pastures are in standing water. This rain and flooding is really getting out of hand...

I'll be thinking about your daughter, too, Dawna, and thanks for thinking of my sister. I just tried to call her but she was on her way to the doctor to get a Tetanus shot. I just don't think of having to do things like that, but on the other hand, there's a lot I don't know about post-flooding medical and other needs.

The seeping water would bother me, too! Who knows what is seeping in along with the water, right?

Susan

Susan and Dawna, I'm so sorry to hear about both of your relatives and the flooding. I cannot imagine having to deal with that. I'm glad everyone is safe though.

My biggest problem appears to be all the humidity. I'm supposed to get my floors sanded and refinished next week. I've been packing, and packing, and packing. The floor guy called me this morning and said they are having trouble getting the polyurethene to dry on the floors right now, apparently it just sits there like soup. Great. :) But, I see the blessing, at least my house isn't flooded. :)

I hope everything dries up quickly for everyone.

Lisa

Susan,
What area did your sister live in? I'm so sorry to hear about her situation. I honestly can't even imagine what it must be like. Suzanne Sommers (sp?) was on TV awhile back talking about her home burning down last year. She said people mean well when they tell her, "It's just stuff." She knows that, of course, but she said after awhile she wanted to say "Yes, it's just stuff, but it's MY stuff! Let's take a match to your house and see how you feel!"

Anyway, I am so sorry about your sister. I hope she sees sunny skies soon and starts to feel better. Same goes for your sister, wolf.

Rita

I meant your daughter, wolf. Sorry!

Susan,

I also am so very sorry to hear that Sally's home has suffered from the flood damage, but at the same time am very, very relieved to hear that she and her family are safe.

The weather and flood news from SE Kansas and NE Oklahoma continues to be so dismal and depressing. As bad as it has been region-wide for many folks in many locations, it seems that SE Kansas and NW Oklahoma are really bearing the brunt of the storm right now. My heart goes out to them all. I will continue to keep Sally and her family in my prayers.

Dawna,

What an experience your daughter is having! We drove over the I-35 bridge over Lake Lewisville on Monday and the water is very high. I don't know how high the water actually is, but it looked 8' to 10' higher than normal at the very least.

The boat ramps, swingsets, picnic tables, etc. are under water at the 'beach' swimming area. Of course, the sandy beach-type area is under water too. I can only imagine what a rise in the water like that has done to the many, many homes that are on the shores of the lake. (And there are SO MANY homes down close to the shoreline of that lake!)

My heart goes out to your daughter. She faces a long road ahead to repair the damage and replace the things that must be replaced. I know that I would be in tears, too, were I in her shoes. Do you know if her homeowners' insurance will treat the 'seepage' as covered damage, or if they will call it 'flood damage' and refuse to cover it?

I will keep your daughter in my thoughts and in my prayers too. She is going through such a tough time and it is so stressful to live in that situation, especially since the rain is ongoing and the damage and inconvenience may continue for a while.

Susan,

Everyone who is in any sort of water--even rescuers in boots and gear--needs a tetanus shot because all kinds of bacteria can be in that water, especially if sewage lines are broken, leaking, etc. And, as gardeners, we all need to be sure to have a tetanus shot at least once every 10 years because we are at higher risk due to our constant contact with soil.

Lisa,

It can REALLY be tough for that polyurethane to dry when the humidity is high. It dried for us quickly in warm autumn weather when we redid the hardwood floors at our home in Fort Worth years ago. However, we know people who have had to wait days and days and days for it to dry in humid weather, and the house is virtually unusable during that timeframe.

Is he going to put off redoing your floors until the weather improves, or what? I know it is an inconvenience, but at least he warned you up front before he was halfway through doing the floors. And, like you said, it certainly could be worse, couldn't it?

Y'all, this talk of flooded homes and seepage and damage makes me so grateful that my only losses are a few garden plants. As much as I love the yard and garden, it is not nearly as important as our home. And, though this scarcely need to be said, we are all so blessed that we have not lost any loved ones during this period of treacherous weather.

Dawn

Thanks everyone! She called again this afternoon, as I waited anxiously all day to hear from her. I know she has her hands full right now. They have ripped all the flooring out now, and sheetrock up to 2', and are starting on removing the cabinetry. She lost most of her clothes, and over 100 pair of shoes (I keep telling her she has a shoe fetish!), her scrapbooks she's been working on for several years now, but she had ordered a side of beef for her freezer, and had not yet gotten it! So, she didn't lose much food or anything (easily replaceable anyway). They are in the process of moving to a rent house in the interim.

Dawn, I would imagine there are lots of nasties in that river water, huh?

You are right, Dawn, our houses and things are mere possessions that we can replace (most of anyway). Which reminds me I need to put all my precious things in a box that can easily be retrieved in a hurry just in case. Things like my photos and baby books, etc., are irreplaceable IMHO!

I did see that poor couple on the news that finally located their two dogs, one was okay, but the other died. It was so sad. I cannot imagine losing my animals either.

I heard on the news the other night that it is likely we will be in this weather pattern until fall. Hoorah! Not really, but the jet stream is still way up north, and is looping down across the SE rather than the middle of the country like it normally does, and they're not expecting that to change soon.

Susan

Susan,

Poor Sally! I don't envy them all the work to repair the house. The thing about floods that I hate is how everything smells like muddy, mucky swamp water afterward. And, of course, you have to take great pains to ensure mold does not start growing inside the walls, esp. that black toxic mold. It has been a huge issue in Texas now for 10 or 15 years, and the homeowners really have had to battle their insurance companies over the issue of mold.

Did Sally have much notice so she could save some things, or was it a very quick rising of the water that caught everyone off-guard?

There ARE lots of nasty bacteria in that flood water! Yesterday when we were pumping floodwater away from 3 homes in the Thackerville area so that the homes themselves would not be flooded, I brought Lysol kitchen cleaning wipes with me for the firefighters to use to clean their hands before they ate. (I usually have actual antibacterial handwipes for them, but was out, so brought the Lysol ones from the kitchen instead).

I cannot bear the thought of this weather pattern hanging around for months. I am so ready to get back to normal and to get out into the garden, which right now resembles a pond more than a garden.

Today it has only rained three times, and each rain was a fairly mild shower, so it is a bit of an improvement. Water is everywhere, though. And, we have already had enough rainfall in the first three days of July to meet and exceed our county's "average rainfall" for the month of July.

I do love the cooler temps, although the higher humidities are hard on the people here who have chronic breathing difficulties like asthma and emphysema. Our fire dept. medical first responders and the county's paramedics and EMTs have had a lot of "difficulty breathing" type calls lately and I think the higher humidity has a lot to do with that.

I hope Sally and her family do not have any medical problems that will be aggravated by the extreme moisture. I know that lots of people who are allergic to mold and certain fungi are having all kinds of trouble with their allergies right now.

Today my son brought home a dog from the Gainesville animal shelter who was a survivor of their June 18th floods. She was going to be euthanized today, and he couldn't stand the thought of that, so he adopted her. He also told them that if her previous owners come in looking for her, he will give her back to them.

We DID NOT need an 8th dog, but I couldn't be irritated at him because I probably would have done the same thing. I know that floods are traumatic and difficult to recover from, but how could somebody abandon a sweet little dog that was once their companion? She deserved a chance to live, and here she is.

Dawn

So many people are suffering from this flood. Just north of us in Miami many people have had to leave their homes and businesses. On the Tulsa news tonight it looked like the water in Bartlesville has begun to go down. I hope Ilene stayed high and dry in Dewey. A refinery in southern Kansas is underwater and has dumped oil into the flood waters. Some towns have the oil to deal with in addition to the water. The oil is staying on the surface of the water and feeds into the river that eventually becomes Tulsa's water supply but they are saying it is not a threat because it stays on top and the water is taken from much lower. One small Kansas town has less than 24 hours of water in their water tower. They expect to have it corrected within a week but they are being told to boil their water for three days after it is restored. Every news report just seems to bring bad news for someone.

We have been lucky in Grove because we have not had as much rainfall as much of Oklahoma. We went down to the neighborhood boat dock last night and, of course, the lake is higher than I have ever seen it. Our neighborhood is on a ridge so we don't have a problem. It looks very funny, however, because the ramps going to the docks are always much higher on the ground side, but now they are level. Water, water, everywhere.

Yes, I too am so feeling so sad for all the people who have lost so much of their property by the recent flooding. Especially, for the people who have lost their lives in OK, KS, and TX from flash flooding or being trapped in their cars, which got caught up in the rushing water.

Then again my heart just broke to see some of the domestic animals which either were left behind or which could not be found in time to evacute them. I know at times of sudden evacuations it is often all people can manage to do when they only get themselves and their children out, but still is seems so cruel of those who choose to leave behind pets which could have been evacuated. I know that most shelters will not take pets, but that still is not enough justification to leave those faithful pets to suffer through such horrible flooding events. In truth they are just animals, but even animals hurt when they experience separation anxiety, fear, pain, loneliness, and suffering. Not to mention the health risk these abandoned pets suffer from lack of clean water and food; let alone the flux of parasites which are trying to escape the flooding and which piggy back on these abandoned pets and begin to feed on their flesh.

Carol,

Without a doubt the worst flooding Oklahoma has seen in quite some time is in the NE part of our state.

We've heard from Ilene several times and she is fine, although she had to turn around and head home from work the other day without ever making it to work because of the flooding....and because a gentleman told her that if she got around the flooding and got TO work, she would be stuck there and unable to get home for a few days.

Can you imagine how hard the clean-up will be in areas that have not only floodwater, but also oil and spilled sewage to deal with? It is a triple whammy. On top of that, very few people have any flood insurance.

When Gainesvilles, TX, flooded across the river from us on June 18th, many residents there were shocked to learn that just about the only government help that comes in the form of $$$$ tends to be a little rent assistance money to get people into some kind of temporary home for a month or so.

Many of the Gainesville residents apparently believed (or still do believe) that the government will bail them out by paying for their damaged homes, personal property and vehicles, which it absolutely does not do. Often, low-cost government subsidized loans are available, but not much is given out in the form of grants. That is a bitter pill for many people to swallow, but it is reality.

My heart breaks when I think of the people who have lost literally EVERYTHING they own. I know everyone always says it is "just stuff", and it is, but imagine what it would be like to start all over with 'no stuff'.

Katrina,

I always worry about all the animals as well. If a weather disaster were to occur here, I would do everything in my power to take our dogs, cats, chickens and guineas with us. I would not be able to sleep at night if I abandoned them to fend for themselves.

Floods are also hard on the wildlife. I know that many perish in floodwater, although many others, of course, do make it to higher ground. Right now, our property, which is less than a mile from the flooded Red River has had a huge influx of 'new' wildlife, especially deer, cottontail rabbits, snakes and all kinds of birds. I assume they have come here from the flooded river bottom lands that lie west of our back property line.

I wonder what the rest of the summer will be like? Will we have more of this extremely wet weather and more flooding?
It is hard to imagine that the type of flooding seen in NE Oklahoma and SE Kansas could EVER happen again, but one never knows.

Dawn

My sister mentioned that FEMA would be helping out financially. I know there are still people waiting on money from Katrina! But, I didn't want to say anything to her to dispel her hopes, so zip. I doubt they will get anything much at all. However, they have so many friends in that town. That IS the advantage of living in a small town. Everybody helps everybody.

Sally was able to get both cats (one had to stay in the house overnight because they could not catch her; the cat panicked and was traumatized by the flooding) and their English Spaniel (my brother-in-law's hunting dog/pet). She said that Jerry (her DH) had a heck of a time cornering her the next day, but they finally got her.

I cannot stand to watch those photos of those lonely, frightened pets in the middle of the flooding. They kept showing one video of a German Shepherd cornered against the porch of a house, in the middle of the water. I hope they didn't just take that video and leave him there! One family got one of their two dogs back, but the other one died in the flood in Coffeyville, Kansas (that's where the oil spill occurred on the Caney River).

Towns affected in the area include Coffeyville, Independence, Caney, Altoona, Fredonia, Neodesha, Elk City, Erie, Chanute, and so many more. Coffeyville and Independence are the largest towns (10,000+ populations). The rest are all very small towns.

Soonergrandmom - I'm SOOOOO glad to hear you're okay in Grove. That's where my son lives, and I've been trying to call him, but no response yet. However, he is working out of state right now, so I knew he wouldn't be in the middle of it. But, I did worry about their homes. That river at Grand (that spills into Grand Lake) is pretty high I bet. We used to have a vacation house on that river. I remember one time there was a bad storm there in the late 70s or early 80s, and the boat ramp detached and floated downstream, boat and all. We were able to retrieve the boat, but had to build a new dock. It's beautiful there!

Susan

Susan,

FEMA normally gives displaced flood victims a one-time cash grant to see to their immediate needs, such as rent, clothing, food, etc. I do not know how they determine how much a grant will be--maybe based on the size of the family(?) I wish I had paid more attention to what they were saying about all this after Gainesville flooded a couple of weeks ago.

I remember that one family from Gainesville that was featured on the news received assistance from FEMA, the Red Cross and the Salvation Army and it totaled $1600.00 for a family of five who lost their home, all their personal belongings and all three vehicles.

There was a Flood Victims Assistance Center set up at a local church that doubled as a shelter. At that location, flood victims were able to obtain clean-up kits for their houses, personal hygiene kits for themselves, clean clothing, kitchen items, and bedding. It seems like that type of stuff was mostly available the first week to ten days after the flood.

There is now a flood victims assistance center still in operation at the Gainesville Mall, and I believe the FEMA and Red Cross-type agencies are located there so the victims can register with all the different groups at once. In addition, there is a victims assistance store where people can purchase clothing, appliances, etc. that have been donated to the flood relief effort. I am not sure if there is a nominal monetary charge for the store items or what--I know that you have to prove you lived in the flood-affected area to shop there.

Hopefully the folks in SE Kansas and NE Oklahoma will have similar assistance available to them as soon as it is practical for such groups to come in and set up. I have to say that everyone in Gainesville has been working really hard to help those who need it, but the assistance groups can only do so much.....it is not like anyone there is handing out new vehicles or new homes....and there are lots of people for whom safe, affordable housing is the main need. Lots of displaced families are staying with other family members or friends, but that is not a long-term solution, of course.

Flood victims in Gainesville had to register with FEMA, the Red Cross, etc. separately so be sure Sally knows that registering with FEMA is only part of the process!

I hope FEMA comes through with timely assistance for all who need it. I agree with you that one advantage of living in a smaller town is that everyone helps everyone else. I worry, though, that so very many people were affected....and those unaffected may not be able to help everyone. In Gainesville, the churches have played a key role in the recovery efforts....and not just the local churches. Many churches from all over Texas have sent food canteens and food, clothing, financial assistance, etc.

Anyway, I just wanted to pass on to you what little I have learned about flood assistance and FEMA since Gainesville flooded.

I continue to keep Sally and all the other flood survivors in my thoughts and prayers. I know the road to recovery will be long and frustrating, and I am sure Sally will lean on you a lot to get through it.

Dawn

Susan - Although I have a broken foot, I can still drive and would be happy to drive by your sons house if it would make you feel better. I think the only people with problems are very low and very close to the water. We have friends who moved here from California last year and bought a new home. Driving by yesterday, it looked like their neighbors across the street had waterfront property. Seems people have a habit of building in the flood plain. I have not been down to the water today. I can see the water from my window but I can't tell how high it is until I go down by the docks. I wish I had taken a picture yesterday because I doubt that I will ever see it that high again........at least I hope not. So far today, we have sunshine. Just send me a private email with the address if you want me to check out his house. Carol

Carol,

Your comment that "Seems people have a habit of building in the flood plain..." reminds me of a builder in a community near us. He built a rather large and luxurious home (in the $400,000 to $5000,000 price range) IN a flood plain and has not been able to sell it, so is living in it himself.

In the last 18 months this home has had flash flood water in the house and garage once, and in the garage a second time. This gentleman appears to be a very successful builder and businessman, and a good and decent person as well. Stili, I look at that house when we drive by it and I have the same exact thought every single time--"What was he thinking, building that house in a flood plain?"

When we bought our mostly-wooded acreage, everyone thought we were nuts when we built our house out on the open "prairie" in full sun instead of knocking down some trees and building in the shadier wooded area. Know what, though? The 'prairie' area where we built our house is the highest point on our land by far, and the wooded area does occasionally experience a little flash flooding when we have a heavy rainfall. So, when we chose our building site, it might have looked as if we made the decision to choose 'sunshine' over 'shade', but we were actually choosing higher land over lower land.

I hope all is well today and that the rising water don't come any closer to y'all. The rivers have calmed down here, and we have had a sharp decrease in the amount of rainfall, so I think Lake Texoma may not experience quite as much flooding as previously expected. Still, we are getting rain every day, so nothing is drying out yet.

I am walking in puddles in the lawn so much that I think I am beginning to grow little webbed duck feet. :)

Dawn

Carol in Grove! Thanks so much for the offer, but I'll wait til I hear from him. They live in the city proper of Grove, so I imagine they're okay.

The answer for most of the folks when we ask, "What was he thinking?" is that "he" wasn't. That's the problem, Dawn, huh?

Well, for all this sun we've been having, it rained this afternoon. We're just in that pattern, so no getting around it. I had just finished pulling all the weeds out front to prepare a bed extension for my milkweeds, too.

Susan

Susan - I am sure they are OK. Our water is not from our rainfall, but from rainfall north of us that is flowing into our lake. We have had several dry days with only a few sprinkles. The lake is expected to crest tomorrow. There is a lot more flooding than I had thought there would be, but I addressed that in another posting today.