2004 Flood...the photos
This is one of the first images we saw of our neighborhood
The tree "line" you see at the top of the photo
is the Delaware & Raritan Canal.
Our house is just in front of the clump of trees
a third of the way down from the top & right in
the middle of the photo (too bad I don't know
how to edit to put a big red circle around it.)
You can see how the "back" of the neighborhoodis still dry ground.
Our neighbors behind us had no water...(in this flood.)
All the "stuff that accumulated against the fence
behind our house...much of it was NOT ours!
The top of the 4' fence was the "high water mark"
at the back of our house...
Hydrostatic Pressure damage to the "upriver"
side of our basement walls.
Significant restoration work was needed to repair this.
Much of our property piled up in front of our house.
Thank Goodness for all the help we got...
We never could have done all of this so quickly!
The Trash company decided to do "extra" pick-ups for
the entire week...Our stuff alone probably filled
half of the truck...cudos to them for making the effort
to help us all clean out the junk in DAYS.
How High the river still was...
"on the road" on Monday evening...
we were able to drive in on Tuesday.
The view at the foot of our basement steps...before we got a sump pump running to drain
the rest of the standing water.
The shelf lying on it's side held art stuff as well as extra
"pantry" stuff, like pasta and canned goods...YUCK.
Keep in mind it was PITCH DARK
with no power when this photo was taken...
it looks "better" because of the camera's flash.
This is an Entertainment system that DH and I built together while we were expecting Scooter...
The turntable was on the bottom left (trashed)
The turntable was on the bottom left (trashed)
and all our "Home Videos" in the
drawer on the bottom right.
We couldn't imagine them being salvagable,
but we put them in a box because we
couldn't bear to throw them away...
(notice the portfolio in the background of this photo...It was all of the artwork that I had taken OUT of
the minivan...SOME of it was ruined...
most of it dried...damaged : (
Hard to believe, but our Living/ Dining room carpet
WAS white...
The ottoman next to the couch was another
"project" that DH and I created...It housed all of the girls
dress-up stuff...the lid lifted off!
Lovey built the box, I upholstered it...
It went in the trash
with most of the other upholstered furniture...
except the chair on the right,
which only got wet at the "skirt"...the chair was fine...
this made me happy,
because the chair had belonged to my mother
This is the way that the Good Lord protected my lilac bush...I don't think it would have survived the
the force of the water & debris if the fence post
hadn't risen and wedged against our driveway.
This was the ONLY spot where a fence post
came out of the ground!
(the lilac was a mother's day gift from
(the lilac was a mother's day gift from
my mother-in-law several years before...
it is still living...in my current backyard)
We tied up the canoe INSIDE the fence during theevening before we left...the river rose about 12"
above the fence in the "front yard"...
All the stuff that I left sitting on the picnic table
and benches stayed dry...It was all of my
painting stuff that I used when working on the
playground mural...
This is what the contents of our basement looked likestuffed into contractor plastic bags...
Members of The Knights of Columbus as well as many other
friends and aquaintences worked with us for days
clearing all this stuff out and washing down
the things that we could salvage...
Our Parish Priest was there slogging our trash
for us too...what a great guy he is!
We made sure that he was the one to Baptize
Snorkie Boy when he was born!
I promise the next "chapter of the story"
before next weekend....
:)
Wow! Those pictures are amazing. I hope you had flood insurance. How devasting. I'm so glad that I already know that you overcame this and that you are doing well now.
ReplyDeletehet blijft erg om te zien,wat een ravage,alles weg, heb je nog wat kunnen redden,weet wel, dat god bij je was bij iedereen.ik denk aan jeis alles nu weer in orde.
ReplyDeleteoma nijn
I read your previous posts, but it is this one with the pictures that really made me see what you were describing. Wow.
ReplyDeleteIt's wonderful to see how God helped you and that you still know He is good!
Wow. What a challenge. Thank goodness for people who are so willing to help in hard times!
ReplyDeleteWow the pictures are amazing. I can't believe how the back part of the neighborhood was dry and your area was so devistated!
ReplyDeleteWhat a mess! If only the flood could have picked and chosen, leaving just the things you needed and cherished the most. But, I guess that would be asking too much. The little things that were saved and all the help you got were wonderful.
ReplyDeleteLiving on the Gulf Coast, we expect the worst every Hurricane season, tending to sometimes forget that the rest of the country gets some serious water damage year round. I cannot imagine how hard it would be to come back from that kind of devistation. And that fence protecting the bush thing was awesome! thanks for sharing.
ReplyDelete