I thought we had it bad 6 years ago...6- 10feet of fast moving water.
It was over the next day, we had mountains to escape to, and there wasn't 6.5 million people in need of rescue,food, and shelter. I watch the news in awe.
I feel so bad for you Texas (and Louisianna) folks, I remember when survival mode kicked in and I thought of nothing else...that was the best part of the experience.
Depression sets in when we were safe going through all our stuff that was destroyed. I found that it was just better to throw everything out in the street and front loader the neighborhood into metal piles,wood piles, and garbage piles into a central area so that the scrapers could pick up the metals, the garbage could be loaded into trucks and taken away, wood dealt with later... kept the area safe and clean so the rebuild effort could begin and work relatively smoothly thereafter.
This rebuild effort is going to be a long miserable process. Caution must be taken with rubber gloves and masks...you must wear them, every nasty thing in the world is in that water, bad things, wear the protection , I've lost allot of friends to cancer after ingesting all that stuff. Your town is going to smell like dirty socks for a long time , that's when everything is still soaked, it gets worse for you when it drys out enough for the dust to blow, all the bad stuff is still in the air don't give up on a mask yet, then ,the mildew... careful around that too. Masks rubber boots and rubber gloves, even if it gets hot...they can save your life.
Fema will waist you time in line promising you help. They are mainly interested in estimating a dollar amount of damage for the area, the lines will get smaller in a few days and they will still be there. If the Feds find monies for grants , or property byouts you will have had to fill out the Fema paper work within the 30 days from the flood before the fema group leaves the area. The buyout is BS, 30K for your house, that's it..the state may grant the dollars to tear it down otherwise the township is responsible for the cost. The property then goes to the town as long as nothing is ever built on it again... your town will be financially responsible to insure and mow the new parcel which used to be your home that Fema gave only 30K for. Hold out and sell it for over 30 to a interested neighbor ,if you can.
If you had flood insurance watch those insurance companies...don't cash a check if you don't have it in writing that more is available as you need. You don't want to find out it has been SETTLED by you accepting and cashing that first check.
Find out about dollar amount/percentage of damage to the structure. You may be underinsured and think that you can get alittle more by squeezing out all the damage. but if you are lucky enough to have moderate repair , say less than 51% of the value of your home be careful. If you claim over 51% you may have to make upgrades to the entire structure to meet the most recent building codes. This could cost more $ than you may have been covered for, and you end up with a mostly finished house with no CO that you aren't allowed to live in til there is a CO.
Be sure to was hands and sanitize, you are still in a sewer. Eat meals with your neighborhood at a church or whatever is available it's good for morale and people won't feel desperate and alone.
I feel so bad for you guys, keep us updated please and be safe , things are slippery and sharp objects are just under the muck. get a Tetanus shot .
As for the bikes...Keep them , they will need a TOTAL BREAK DOWN and new parts like David said.
When mine drowned ,rebuilding them saved my sanity when the craziness of rebuilding our "lives"
went on a hell of a lot longer than I could stand. It's therapy.
