Sorry about the flood.

Suggestions:

1. Don't use a humidifier.
2. In the beginning, open all the windows and get large fans to blow air in to get rid of most of the wetness.
3. Then turn on all air conditioners with windows closed.
4. Turn on the heat at ther same time helps also.

Air conditioners work better than humidifiers.

dcarch

Having just been through a major flood here 30 days ago I offer my deep condolensces. We were declared a federal disaster area quite quickly & I'm certain the Nashville area will be also. The Red Cross provided us with clean-up stuff like mops, buckets, bleach (lots), rubber boots, masks, gloves, and even fed us lunch. They were very, very helpful and much appreciated.

Our fire departments were overwhelmed with pumping requests. They were pumping about 20 houses/day and every available private flood clean-up company within a 3 state area was also here working. Buy fans before you go because they will be sold out in the flood stricken areas. We used both our A/C & fans.

After you get the water out (that's the first step), get a dumpster delivered. They'll probably also be hard to come by so if you can't find one available just start hauling stuff outside by the curb. Eventually, the towns will arrange a pick-up (or at least ours did). You have to get the wet stuff out of the house. But, frankly, if there's that much water inside the place may be condemned. We've had hundreds of homes condemned. Sometimes, if you can get it pumped quick enough you can save a structure but if the water is just sitting there for days mold is going to be a huge issue.

The Nashville newspaper online should have a section informing residents how to file a claim after the disaster declaration to be eligible for a low interest loan.

Unfortunately, I'm only aware of how it works for property owners. I don't know about condos...is it a true condo or a PUD? First thing is to phone the condo association or the community association in the case of a PUD. See what insurance does exist.

Get back as soon as possible. And good luck. Our area (along with poor Rhode Island) is going to be a long time getting back to normal although repairs are well underway. This was my first experience with a major flood (they can't decide if it was a 100 year flood or a 500 year flood 'cause it's never happened before but for sure the FEMA flood maps are going to be rewritten).

I am soooo sorry. Take advantage of all the help the relief agencies have to offer. Even if you don't need help with buying supplies (we didn't need or take equipment 'cause we could purchase our own) we did take advantage of their knowledge about how to clean-up.

We also got our contractor in right away for inspection. We had some foundation damage that allowed water to enter the house during the flood. We had the damage repaired within 10 days & are back to normal. So many others around us will never be the same again. It's so hard to see the damage. We lost many historic structures.

Renters insurance wouldn't have helped anyway 'cause it was a flood. You'd need flood insurance.

/tricia

Here's a You Tube of what Mystic looked like during our flood. It's such a helpless feeling.

/tricia

Here is a link that might be useful: Easter 2010 Flood

I've never experienced a flood and can't advise you, but I do send you, your Mom and Sister my thoughts and prayers. My heart goes out to all of you, and all the people affected by the storms.

Sally

One more important thing to have:

Get a big shop wet/dry vacuum. It can suck up all the wetness in carpeting and fabrics very quickly.

dcarch

Hi L2C46,
PREVENTING floods is actually my area of expertise, but because of that I happen to know there are TONS of great online resources.
Here are some to start:
http://www.floodsafety.com/national/property/cleanup/index.htm, Cleaning UP After a Flood, from Floodsafety.org

Flood Clean Up Tips from PA DEP
What to do after a Disaster, from State Farm Insurance Co.
After the Flood, Clean up and Stay Safe, from FEMA

There's more, but that should get you started with some resources. Google away, there is stuff online from Cooperative Extension Services, the Red Cross, FEMA, State and Local Agencies, Insurance Companies, and a few non-profits that are flood-related.
Lpink

What a horrible experience!

Thanks for chiming in Laurie, I certainly can't add to your professional advise but I can say some prayers. I know your information will be of great help to L2C4s' sister.

Oh, L2C46, I am so sorry to hear this bad news! But you mom is thinking clearly....stuff is stuff, family IS more imprtant.

I remember some terrible flooding when my grandparents lived on the Mississippi River back in the 60's. I was just a kid, so I didn't totally grasp the seriousness of it all. But I remember it well.

Good luck to all of you. I hope you can get the homes back to a livable state very soon!

Linda

I have no advice just condolences. I'm so sorry.

In my first post, I meant "dehumidifier".
Sorry for the typo.

Another thing, in one of the advices in one of the links given about using a vacuum to vacuum mold. DO NOT DO THAT.

dcarch

Thanks guys especially Laurie

We're leaving in a few hours to drive down and will come back for the weekend for my niece's Bat Mitzvah and then will see whether I need to go back with them on Sunday.

Dh is at Sam's and Menards buying fans, bottled water, bleach, rubber gloves, face masks, spray bottles and paper towels. Anything else you can think of?

I've ordered a dumpster, thanks trica for that tip, but the soonest they can deliver that is Thursday so at least that's done. Do you think we will need a storage facility?

With the fans, do you put them blowing out a window or what?

Laurie, thanks for the links.

Can anyone tell me what FEMA will do? Do they give financial aid? How do you get in touch with relief agencies in the disaster area?

Here's the information on how to apply for FEMA help. You have to meet qualifying criteria: You have to live within the covered flood zone, (you can find that out online), your municipality has to have done certain things to meet certain Federal criteria (they have to have flood maps, flood plans, certain types of zoning regulations, disaster response plans, etc.), and your area has to be declared a disaster area.

Here's the link on how to apply. Finding out if you're covered may take a little doing. But start at the Web site below. You say this is a condo, if I'm not mistaken, if the condo is in a flood zone, I thought you had to have flood insurance, but maybe not, maybe you can get assistance with buying it at a low cost through the gov't. but its not required. I'm not sure of all the legal ins and outs. But if you don't have flood insurance of any type for the condo association, then your only hope is if the area is declared a national disaster area and then you can get the FEMA money for that. If not, you're up a creek in more ways than one! But this is getting a lot of press so I'm sure there will be some money given to this one way or the other. You local and state agency Web sites are one place to start looking for info. Surely TN has a lot of stuff online about floods somewhere. Try Cooperative Extension, city and county emergency management agencies, (and other human service agencies), and state agencies in TN. Also your local Red Cross may be able to help, but realize their top priority is helping people in immediate physical danger and need.

Flood Risk from FloodSmart.gov

Here is a link that might be useful: FEMA Assistance

What can i say...I live in Iowa and we have had 2 500 year floods in the past 10 years....Cedar Rapids is still rebuilding.
I personally have not been flooded but surrounding towns sure have...Des Moines in 1993....and Cedar Rapids on 09.
Our Church is still sending volunteers everyw eek when we can to rebuild.
The fan bit is rather silly because with that kind of flooding youwill have no power...if you can get an electric generator and a livestock fan that will help....but the whole inside will have to be replaced....depending on how much muck came with the water...perhaps even shoveled out.
Clorox and drinking water will be a hot commodity.
Just pray the sun shines to dry stuff out....
Contact the condo association ASAP....they should be helping.
I'm sorry....and they will be a while recovering....emotionally.
Linda

What a terrible situation. I hope you find things in a good a shape as can possibly be hoped for at this point.

If mold is already a problem then those face masks should be rated N95. Heavy plastic bags for debris - 6 mil or greater, double bagged is the official guideline I believe. Read up or get professional advice before using bleach or other disinfectants on mold. It's been a little while since I researched this so don't remember all the details, but in many cases it's not recommended. Dead mold is not harmless mold. It needs to be removed. If you're vacuuming mold be sure to use a HEPA filter, etc. etc. You'll find this type of advice anywhere from "This Old House" to the EPA's own web site. That said, mold is nasty stuff and in any volume best left to professionals.

Ok, so I'm not being overly helpful but I do wish you all the best.

I dont have any information to offer either, but I am so sorry your family is going through this difficult time.

Alexa

Me, too, no advice just lots of good thoughts going out to you and your family. My first thought was that you should get back there asap, and now it sounds like that's what you're doing. I saw the pictures on the news. Unbelievable.

Take allergy medicine with you, eye drops, and nasal spray, cough medicine as well. Even if you don't normally have allergies, mold and mildew can affect anyone. You will be miserable with itcy eyes and sneezing, coughing. One of the best things to do is to rinse you nasal passages out with saline solution or use a nettie pot. You can look on line for the salt/water solution rates.

I can't offer much more advice than what's been posted above LTC46. Sending positive thoughts and vibes to you and your family. Just glad to know your DM and DS are okay.

Doesn't Tracey_OH live in TN too? I hope she and her family are out of harms way.

David

I know absolutely nothing about what to do in case of a flood. I just wanted to say how terribly sorry I am this has happend to you and your family and good luck to you all.

"----With the fans, do you put them blowing out a window or what? ----"

Get as many fans, big fans, as you can. One for each room and area. You can rent big blowers, that's what commercial outfits use to dry space after a flood.

You will need fans for windows to blow all the wet air out of the house.

dcarch

We've had severqal floods here in the last few years too, and the river floods every darned year, somewhere. My ex-inlaws lost a home in Pensacola Beach TWICE in hurricanes, the first was Ike, I think, then Katrina. They rebuilt the first time and just tore the place down and sold the lot the second time. They were not eligible for FEMA and the insurance took forever, fortunately they did have flood insurance although it was terribly expensive.

As has been mentioned, wear masks and gloves. Mold bothers people that don't normally have issues with anything, and be prepared to throw things away, many things cannot be dried out or saved.

Take fans, but be prepared that there may not be power. If there is not, there will be nothing to do other than obtain a generator or wait for the power companies.

Take bottled water. And do you have somewhere to stay while you are helping clean up? Are those friends going to put you up while you work?

You'll definitely be in my thoughts and prayers, Elery has a sister that lives in Tennessee too, but on the other side, thankfully.

Yes, Tracey does live in Tennessee too, I do hope she's OK.

Annie

Again thank you everyone!!! It's almost midnight here, we're just south of Indianapolis and should make it into Nashville around noon tomorrow.

Based on reports in the newspapers and from locals, both people we know and friends on other boards, we are expecting the worst. There is a very real possibility the buildings may be condemned.

My mom is devastated!!! They had just moved in, she has slept there just two nights before coming up to Chicago.

Even if the buildings are salvageable they do not have flood insurance though their insurance plan covers natural disasters and they are NOT, or were NOT, in a flood plain. Hopefully this will qualify as a natural disaster and they will get some compensation.

I have masks, gloves, towels, a ton of stuff in my car including fans. I also have lots of canned goods, flashlights, batteries and a first aid kit.

A shelter is set up at a local school and I heard from a local that the Red Cross will be there tomorrow to begin aiding the cleanup. All the power is still off and you have to wait in line to get help from any of the flood salvage/repair companies so looks like we'll be doing a lot of it ourselves. With so much water having been in the place, even if power comes back on, I don't think we'll be able to use it.

Fortunately we can bunk with some friends but it will be temporary. I mean how long can you impose on someone's hospitality and they are also expecting out of town guests? I guess they'll be nomads for a while.

In the meantime, there is still no power and may not be until the weekend. Stores are not accepting debit or cc as the machines are not working and ATM's are out as well due to lack of power. It's a cash only business. That's a PSA to always keep enough money for emergency's in cash. I'll be stocking up on gas for the car and cash before we get close.

As there is no power, I 'm not holding out for Internet access so will update when I can.

Thanks again to all my GW friends those I know personally and those I hope to meet one day IRL. Your prayers and positive thoughts mean the world to me and my family.

This is Nashville

and this is my mom's condo sub division. They are close to where this was filmed and apparently the water covered the stop sign at one point.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJ86N_sFYzA&feature=related

Oooh! I just got the chills looking at Nashville & your mom's area. I'm so sorry that this happened and everyone has to experience it. Be careful that your car doesn't get flood damaged!

Hope this can get to you soon enough.

If you cannot get a generator, you can get an inverter which you can plug in your car's cigarette lighter outlet and use that to power up a few 110 volt AC things. It depends on how powerful the inverter is (wattage). You can run TV, computer, lights even a small refrigerator with it.

If potable water is a problem, donÂt flush your toilets. The water in the tanks is very clean water for drinking.

Good luck.

dcarch

It sounds like you have what you need with you, and I wish you a safe trip. I can somewhat relate as we have had several flooed basements, up to 3 feet of water.

One more item you might want to grab on the way in is mosquito repellant. In about 8 days they will be out.

My heart goes out to Mom and sister. You don't know where to start first. Weed through items make a call on trash or save and go from there. Remember that some of the electrical items can dry out and be ok or may only need a motor replaced. After the 3 footer, all three freezers/fridges, washer and dryer came back to life. And only the dryer had water inside!

Big hugs to all of you.

Peppi

Well, according to the emergency tips, if you can get the furnaces working, you may be able to use them to help dry out. BUT, not if they are electric furnaces!

We had three years on a row with 100 year floods here where I live along the Delaware, which is why I had a two year job working in flooding education and prevention. My heart goes out to your mother! Yes, it's only stuff, definately a spiritual challenge, but a chance for people to pull together and help each other, to "be there" for each other.

Just reading this for the first time. Adding my condolences and prayers for the weeks ahead. Your mom is so blessed to have your supportive family. Take care.

Judy

Just now reading this... OMG! I feel so sorry for everyone in Nashville. I watched that YouTube...

I've been through a terrible flood, central Ohio in 1999. We were moving to Michigan in two days. We were lucky in that we didn't own the home. It was condemned a few days after we left. We were able to recoup some of our loses from insurance and through FEMA, but not much.Several years later, I was still thinking I had things that I had lost.

L2C46, your DM, DS and you are in my prayers. Keep us informed when you can. If there are needs, I know the people on CF will help if possible. I know I will.

Nancy

I'm sending positive thoughts your way as well. I'm very sorry to hear of this. I can only imagine how devastating this is to your mother and your family. I wish her and you the best in recovering from this horrendous event.

Sending hugs.

I'm so sorry. I've seen news reports of the devastation from this flood and the video you linked makes the situation so real seeing the expressions of the people on the street.

I hope that there will be some relief for your mother and your sister from their insurance company. It's especially tragic that their home and car were brand new. I wish there was something I could do to help.

Please post when you can, you know that many of us are keeping you in our thoughts and prayers.

Lee

Again, thank you everyone for all the prayers and positive thoughts.

Yesterday we spent the day salvaging as much as possible. Lots of photos, my mom seems to have a gazillion, and we're not throwing out any. All the furniture has been trashed as well as the carpeting. We'll try and save the washer and dryer but the other appliances are all gone.

The beds, couches, tv's, small kitchen appliances, just too much to remember everything although we are trying to keep inventory.

Today was spent pulling out the last of the carpets, sweeping mud out of all the rooms, washing most of the stuff in the kitchen and doing a million loads of laundry at the laundromat.

We've got some contractors in who will work through the night to pull out dry wall up to a foot above the water line which was at about 4 feet. They'll be removing all the insulation from the walls as well.

Cleanup has been reasonable easy because we were lucky enough to have a lot of help from the local South African and Jewish communities as well as from total strangers.

I can't thank enough the people who are helping total strangers, the 10 yr old who gave lunch (an apple, bag of chips, sandwich and homemade cookie) to anyone who wanted one and she had about 100 sandwiches she'd made, the adults who walked up to you and asked what they could do to help or the elderly couple handing out ice water from their grandchild's wagon.

My mom's car has been officially written off and it's covered by insurance which is a good thing because almost no-one here, including my family, has flood insurance.

FEMA is coming in tomorrow to do an assessment. Laurie, thanks for the links. Thanks to all of you I think we got in early on that one.

We're staying with friends n Horseshoe bend which is upriver a bit.

Here's a link to see the floods both in Horseshoe bend and River Plantation:

http://www.newschannel5.com/Global/category.asp?C=125220&clipId=4751432&flvUri=&partnerclipid=&topVideoCatNo=0amp;autoStart=true&activePane=info&LaunchPageAdTag=homepage&clipFormat=flv

When you see River Plantation, look how high the water came up, almost to the carport roofs.

The lower houses in Horseshoe bend were almost half way up the first floor.

There are dumpsters everywhere in HSB and driving down Sawyer Brown Rd is like driving between two trash levees 10 ft high and 15 feet wide all made of trash...furniture, lumber, carpets, dry wall, insulation, toys, clothing.

It is the saddest thing I have ever seen.

These are my pictures:

http://s140.photobucket.com/albums/r26/LaniKaye221/Nashville%20floods/

Please continue to pray.

So glad you posted, and you are on the road to recovery. If your photos were in a pile or shoebox, like mine were, try to gently separate them and let them dry out. You will be surprised how well they recoever. Furniture can be recovered as the frames should be OK once dry. Walls and rugs, definatey toss those stinkers.

The kindness of strangers amazes me and gives me faith in humanity.

Sending more big hugs to you, sister and Mom.

Thanks Peppi

I am not kidding when I say there are a gazillion photos. We kept my mom away yesterday - too hard on her to have to watch everything go in a pile - and she spent the day with two friends trying to save the old ones.

Anyways, we'll grab something to eat and be on our way soon.

OMG, It seems like it isn't getting any better in TN.

I can't stop thinking about you and your family; since knowing you personally I can put a face to everything I'm seeing on TV and Internet.

Thank God that they have you to help them through this.

It sounds totally exhausting L2C46! You've been through the wringer, in more ways than one. Take care of yourself, don't overdo. One step at a time. We're praying for you! Savor the blessings that come your way, that's all you can do. I am so sorry you are having to go through this!

You and your Mom are still so much in my thoughts. I just can't even imagine it. Bless you both and bless the wonderful people who are helping you.

I'll add my thoughts and prayers.

Tami

Just checking in to see if there is an update on the BIG CLEANUP. You all will remain in my thoughts and prayers.

Lee

I've been in a tornado in Marietta, GA and through 3 hurricanes here in FL. Never a flood. Don't want a flood. In all these disasters, cash is king! Think about putting aside some cash during "disaster" season.

You take care and try to breathe. It's tough. I've been there!