Final Post-Flood Update

Flood recovery is continuing all around the area. Most of our neighbors' homes are down to bare bones. Demolition noises echo all over. Tadd and I both wish that we could help a little more than we have been able to. It's hard with two small kiddos to worry about and also, a little work of our own here on the home front. We have been able to feed our neighbor a few times while he toils with ripping out his floors and walls. And Tadd did enjoy helping him demo his deck on Saturday. The Lord DID preserve us and the inside of our house. However, upon further inspection, we found that the water had entered our crawl space and got the insulation wet. All the insulation had to be pulled out and replaced. To save half the cost, Tadd bravely decided to do the removal himself. The sooner it comes out the better. Wet insulation under the house can get the wood wet and cause mold. So, as soon as we knew what we had to do, it was time to get to work. Tadd crawled and scooted around in the dark yanking out nasty wet insulation. I stood on the outside and pulled it out as he handed it to me. Oh yes, and the kids?...good question. Against our better judgement, we let them run around in the dark cold dirty backyard. Icky. Then, my parents arrived to save the day. Mom stayed inside and watched the kids, did dishes, made beds, etc. Dad went under the house with Tadd and they handed the insulation out five times as fast as before. Boy were we happy to have that job over with!
Now the crawl space is drying out and later this week a crew will come replace the insulation. Tadd replaced all the pipe insulation himself. He also had to clean out the shed and rake up all flood debris from the yard. The city has a free dump site that's been open from the day after the flood until today. Talk about savings! Can't beat free. Thanks to mom and dad for all the help--and Tadd for all his work!
Here are a few last photos from the school district website to leave you with.
Here is the inside of the high school auditorium.

And Highway 202 down in Fall City. Look at what the raging flooded river did to the road and cars. The houses off to the left were ruined as well.

Here is the high school sports field directly to the east of our house.

The red house to the right of this picture is just across the street from us. The beige house has a very sweet young Christian family living in it. They have 3 very young kiddos and have flooded twice in the past two years.

The street to the north of our house.

Here is the floral shop/gift shop I love to buy gifts from and the laundromat. They have cement floors and are used to flooding. They are in a low spot and are some of the first to get wet every flood. Both were open one day after the flood.

The middle school down the road. Thankfully, the inside stayed totally dry. And now, Lord willing, we shouldn't have any more flood pictures to show you this year! We'll be back to the usual adventures of Ezra and Caroline! Yesterday we spent the day in Tacoma for all-day meeting. But, the camera stayed home without us--so, no pictures. The kids and I have been working on a science project that we will hopefully soon be able to post! Until then...