Carol and I are well and on the mend. This was our City’s 4th major flood since 1986 and by far the most devastating. 2500 homes and businesses were damaged. Somewhere around 15-20 homes condemned in a four-block area by us. Neighbors had their basement walls collapse or severely damaged. We were fortunate to sustain only minor cracking in our basement block walls, all that I can easily fix. We knew in advance that minor flooding was expected from excessive rain, but didn't anticipate the failure of 2 river dams holding back the water of 2 large man-made lakes. Water rose to 35 feet encircling our house with about 8” in our attached garage. No water got into my "Dream Garage" or 1st floor of our house so no damage to the 41 Chevy and only minor corrosion to my 77 Impala wheel rims/brakes which was stored in our attached garage. Unfortunately, some of the items taken from the basement to the attached garage were ruined.
Anticipating the flood, we had everything 24" off our basement floor stored in the attached garage or backyard garage, or moved up higher in the basement. The basement flooded about 2" to 4” into the basement rafters or over 7'. We had no time to remove more of our contents because of a mandatory evacuation of our City at 7:30 at night. 2 days later we arrived back home using back roads with bridges not open over rivers, creeks, and drainage ditches (a half hour drive turned into one of over 1 hour.
We found our basement with 5' of very corrosive water. Friends lent us a large generator so we could begin pumping water out of our basement slowly using two small pumps and garden hoses. It took about 18 hours of pumping and the generator allowed us to have some electricity in the house. Over the last several weeks more than 130 volunteers have either helped us at the house or sent us money for repairs and to replace items. We lost over 51 photo albums and over 40 framed pictures of our photography that we sell and exhibit locally. All our children's mementos, and things collected through the years that held special memories. All my clothing and all our winter wardrobe, along with my shoes, cosmetics, medicine, etc., was in my basement closet and bath. All of our clothing was taken home by friends to be laundered and most survived.
While my wife Carol and I are physically and emotionally exhausted we are daily getting back to a new normal. and expecting to slowly return things to their previous state. It has been a challenge at age 72 to multitask through each day, so we will be downsizing, and simplifying our lives. I am hoping to sell off most of my 41 parts, and we will no longer exhibit and sell our photography. Moving from Midland might also be an option.
The best things we did were listen to our 2 adult children who came home to help, hire a women 5 hours a day to assist me long term in the cleanup, and most importantly were open to the help of others. One of the nicest memories was having Curt Kennedy, a fellow VCCA member from Louisiana, call.
Lots of questions about the future, but we are healthy and taking things one day at a time.
VCCA members have access to a list of over 50 Technical Advisors who can help you with your car. It's worth the price of membership! While you can get a lot of information for free in this forum, sometimes the info that you REALLY need is only available from the right person. This is what "The World's Best Chevrolet Club" is all about!
Sorry that you had to suffer the Tittabawassee River Flood. Cathy and I lived in Midland for 9 years starting 1966. It is hard to imagine the extent of the flooding. We now live on the banks of the Brazos River a 1300 mile river through Texas. When Harvey visited a few years ago we had 5" of flood water in the shop but none in the house, thank goodness. We still have some flood mud in a few places but most has been cleaned up. We lost parts, paper products, etc. and still are trying to save others so they can be used. I can assure you that despite the gloomy situation it is survivable. The negatives fade much faster than the positives which is good. Glad you are on the mend.
Holy crap Mike! Sorry to hear how bad this was but glad to hear you are gaining ground back.
I know you are a very organized and thorough person so this cleanup process and damage would have been very difficult. Made me sad to read about your albums. Glad you are both still well and maintaining a positive outlook.
1938 Canadian Pontiac Business Coupe (aka a 1938 Chevy Coupe with Pontiac shaped front sheet metal - almost all Chevy!) 1975 4-speed L82 Vette
I have not been unlucky enough to go through a flood so can only imagine the mess and damage, the good part is you and your family are still able to tell the story. Tony
Mike, so sorry to hear of what happened to you. I admire your attitude about it and hope the remainder of the recovery goes well. I can't imagine how it must feel.....
Sorry for your misfortune Mike. We got flooded in 1986, but mostly the carpet and some mold went up certain walls. Luckily, we were on a slab floor and no basement. Seen some houses that had wooden floors and they buckled up real bad.
1946 Chevy 3100 1/2 Ton Pickup Purchased 11/18/17 Sold 9/20 1948 Chevy Fleetmaster Coupe, Purchased 6/20/2010 1965 Chevy ll 350 Purchased Feb 2021. 3-speed Saginaw Hurst Floor Shifter 3.08 Rear End
