Flood of 2005

Many of you have been sending in words of encouragement to the Donkers.
Click here to read some of the inspirational passages.

So here we are, September 18th 2005. Time for the last update. “Last”, because now that the house is under roof and out of the weather Ellen and I are going to take a breather. No need to rush things as it will be impossible to move into the house before winter. So we have pretty well resigned ourselves to the fact that we will not be moving into the new digs until next spring. Hey! That gives us all winter to do the interior at our leisure. So we’ll stay put in the guesthouse and work on the new house as we have time.

            We finally received the money back from FEMA as well as another $ 4000.00. Thus far Uncle Sam (FEMA) has granted us just under ten thousand dollars towards the rebuilding of the new house, still quite a bit shy of what was promised us. I’m still appealing   their decision….

            Notwithstanding FEMA’s attitude, we still count our blessings. Especially in the wake of Hurricane Katrina who left thousands of people far worse off than Ellen and I. I thank God every day that we not only have the ability and the tools to do what needs to be done, but we are also still talking to each other! The other day we both realized that it took us just over three months to build the house, at least get it under roof and out of the weather. Not bad for a couple of aging (and at times hurting) individuals! After all the trusses were up I used the tractor to not only bring up all the OSB, but also all the roofing paper and shingles.  A few friends came over and placed all the OSB on top of the trusses and it was not long or Ellen and Chuck had all the OSB nailed down. Tarpaper was next and then Ellen and I hoisted the shingles up, four at the time. A whole bundle at once would have been nice, but we aren’t exactly spring chickens anymore! ;-) Ellen single handedly roofed the house in a matter of days. Talk about a fit helpmate! Once the house was roofed we wrapped it in “Typar”, which will protect the house until such time that it is stoned. We will salvage stone from the old house and also use the foundation rocks from the old Riverview school house that are laying in a pile right next to the new house!

Next we will lay up the chimney blocks for our trusty “Jotul” wood stove and once that is done we will remove the windows and entry doors from the old house and install them in the new house. THEN we can commence the careful destruction of the old house, saving as much material as we can, so we can use same material to build a porch onto the new house and for various other building projects.

Here’s another pictorial progress report.

 

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Monkey Aaron

It is now August 16th 2005

Thanks to help from friends the house is making progress. Since my bum foot and doctor’s orders keep me from getting up on a ladder or the scaffolding, Ellen has had to do most of the “upstairs” work.  Thank God for good friends like Polly, Chuck and Byron, Leroy and JT (To name but a few!) who came out just at the crucial times to lend a hand. It will not be long or the house will be under roof and then we can relax a bit. While Ellen and friends work upstairs, I’m in the cabinet shop building the truss legs and the drip rafters. When not in the shop I’m on Terra Firma (solid floor inside the house!) building the interior walls and planning the wiring, plumbing, insulation etc. etc. Our Massey is getting a work out too: With the addition of some 1x2 channel steel and some good old Yankee ingenuity, I turned the bucket into a forklift and used it to lift the entire load of roof OSB to the second floor, six sheets at the time. Just before the riverside gambrel wall was covered up all the sheets of roof OSB and the rolls of tarpaper and bundles of shingles went up as well. Last week, rather then try to move it by hand, we used the tractor and a carefully placed chain to pick up a scaffolding tower in its entirety. It worked! So we picked up each tower and moved all three to the riverside. As of this date the roadside gambrel is finished…all roofed and looking good!  As this is being written the riverside gambrel is also covered, the drip rafters for that side are next, then the tarpaper and roofing and THEN! Finally! the actual roof! Things are happening, although I still have to figure out how to get the OSB on top of the trusses without getting on a ladder or on the trusses…I trust there will be a way.

 In between it all I check the mailbox for the return of that FEMA money. To no avail. Uncle Sam’s credibility has definitely taken a nosedive and I am wondering if we will ever get a satisfactory closure to the whole flood episode. My Faith in my Government has been shaken, to put it mildly. Then again I always knew that we could only put our Faith in God and let HIM worry about our worldly needs! A week ago I wrote yet another letter (and copies thereof to Senators and the Governor) to the Regional Offices of FEMA in Chicago. Not wanting to embarrass the bureaucrat to whom the letter was addressed, I’ll just address it here to my “favorite uncle”:

Dear Uncle Sam:

With dismay and disappointment in my government I once again take pen in hand…

Enclosed a copy of my last letter to you. Nothing has happened since the date I wrote that letter.  No appeals inspector showed up to once again look at the property and agree that we would receive the maximum amount of financial aid…The money I sent back has yet to be returned and we are definitely beginning to wonder if FEMA really is the government agency it is cracked up to be.

So far help has been less than forth coming and we are STILL without a house.   Sullivan County did enter into the NFIP and we were told our case would be revisited…So far NOTHING. Given what we have gone through, I would have expected my Government to do more than what it has…

 

Sincerely and praying still,

Rogier Donker

 

Time will tell…In the meantime if anyone out there feels compelled to take FEMA’s place and is moved to contribute to the building fund, please do so! 

Here’s another pictorial progress report:

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Cutting Stair Stringers

 

It’s now July 15th and we are making progress.

 It is a good thing that I did not hold my breath concerning the FEMA episode: First they insisted we send the money granted us, BACK. So I did. Then a few days after I did that act of obedience I received a letter from FEMA informing us that WE DID NOT NEED TO SEND THE MONEY BACK….

They would be returning it to us and they were sorry for any inconvenience….

To date we have not yet received it.

Not a word about that “maximum financial help” that was promised us.

Right now I am sort of pre-occupied trying to get the house under roof, but as soon as I get a chance I will formulate yet another letter to Uncle FEMA…

Here’s another pictorial progress report:

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It's Level!

 

Our little compound is replete with God's messengers of Peace. Doves cooing and birds chirping awaken us in the morning and throughout the day cross our path to remind us that God is in charge! It is now June 18th and things are really beginning to take shape. Our new house is becoming a reality. Don¹t know just how we are going to get it all finished, but I guess that¹s not my problem. I trust the Good Lord will sell some more cows!

Here is a pictorial of the progress:

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Ellen, Caleb and JT cutting sod. Isn't there a gas powered one somewhere?

Word came this past week that our county became a member of the National Flood Insurance Program on June 10th. This means, according to some FEMA people, that our case will be revisited and we may as yet get some help, retroactively. Presumably we will get back the money that we had to return and hopefully also will finally get that "maximum amount of financial help" that the appeals inspector back in March mentioned. I am not holding my breath!
 

It is now May 18th and "things" are happening!

 On March 9th  an appeals inspector from FEMA arrived, he stayed two and a half hours, did a thorough inspection of the house and declared it a total loss. Like the SBA inspectors he valued the loss at $ 125.000.00 and told Ellen that we would qualify for the maximum amount of financial help and that FEMA would be in touch in ten to fourteen days....

 Time passed.

 The ten to fourteen days from up above, passed.

 Then on May 4th we received a letter from FEMA instructing us, under penalty of all kinds of unpleasant and nasty  things,  to  return the monies granted us...In their infinite wisdom the FEMA people  decided that they had made a mistake in giving  us financial help.  We did not qualify for any help after all because our county does not partake in the Federal Flood Insurance Program...

 Hello!

 Very much pressured by the flood victims, US Senator Lugar, State Senator  Waterman and State Representative Borders,  the local "powers-that-be" have filled out the proper paper work and we have been told that we WILL qualify for financial aid once the paperwork has passed through the federal pipeline. How long THAT will take is anybody's guess....We have also been told that once the paperwork is in order our individual cases will be revisited and then we will probably get some help...

 

 For now we just decided to follow advice of friends and family , take the bull by the horns, take a leap of Faith  and start building a new house! How it will all come together we do not know yet, but sofar doors have been opened and I trust that the  Good Lord knows what He is doing!

 

 We are going to build the house in the Northeast corner of our river front property. The ground there is higher then the high water mark of January 17th and  stayed dry during the flood. The house will also sit atop a three foot high cast concrete foundation wall that will put the ground floor three foot above  the levies.

 

 Unfortunately one of our nice ash trees had to be cut down in order to make room for the house. My friend Daniel, wood cutter extra ordinaire,  laid down the tree within inches of where he wanted it without doing any damage to the large crab apple tree. Ellen and I cut the ash tree up and it will keep us warm next winter! Three other, little trees had to be offered up as well, but we will plant more later.

    

  The new house will be stoned using the stone from our old house. Since the new house is larger we will probably need more stone... The old schoolhouse foundation rocks found their way onto our lawn. Thanks to the tractor bucket and being at the right place at the right time.

 Or was it a case of "Thank You, Lord" :-)

 

    Throughout these trying times we receive lots of encouraging E-mails. With permission from my dear Turkish friend Macik  I'd like to share one of hers. Please keep in mind that English (written or spoken)  is NOT her native tongue!

 

   "Ur and Ellen's new house will be more great than old house, I'm sure that. May be God wanted to make u and Ellen more great house owner so make old house lost, see? We can not know God's happens...it is a balance of God !  That (flood) will make u and Ellen a new beutiful house! So we say thank God only."

Indeed...

    Last Sunday our friend Earl and I planned to lay out the new house. Off to the lumber yard I went  to get some 2x4's to be used for stakes. While at the lumber yard I walked past the window and door display and what would be marked down from $ 224.01 each  to $ 50.00 each but TWO casement windows, one left, one right....For the upstairs bedrooms...Hello!

 Opening doors you say? Moving in mysterious ways you say? Thank You, Lord!

 

 The tractor sure came in handy as we used its bucket to push the stakes into the ground. Then it was a matter of careful measuring and few hours later a perfectly square  orange nylon  rectangle denoted where the house will stand. This coming Saturday we will commence the digging of the footer!

It is now April 12th and still we have not heard from FEMA..."your case is still in review" is the answer I'm given when I call them. Very frustrating!

What is NOT frustrating is the generosity of friends and family....the building fund is still growing. Thank you thank you, one and all!
We also received some sizable anonymous donations - no idea who our benefactors might have been, but Ellen and I  hereby thank them from the bottom of our hearts!  Thank YOU! Until we hear from FEMA there is very little we can do as far as building plans are concerned. So we bide our time, practice patience (That's a hard one!) and play around in the cabinet shop building a model of the new house-to-be.  Here are some pictures  - the model is more or less to scale. One quarter inch equals one foot. In an effort to raise some more funds, I've also written the saga of the flood, including all of the gory details that inquiring minds might want to know. Available on a CD, it can be ordered here!

March 6th

This past week the mail brought  us a check from FEMA in the amount of $ 1933.21 for "Damage to Personal Property" and a check for $ 1035.00 for "Rental Assistance". Not a word about the damage to our house, so we are still in limbo. So far FEMA has helped us to the tune of  $ 5568.21 ....not exactly a  great sum especially in light of the fact that some of our neighbors, who did not lose their house and who had far less damage than we had, received far more financial help from FEMA than we did. One neighbor received over $ 8000.00 another reportedly $ 16000.00.....Go figure... 

I went so far as to design a simple, nothing fancy, gambrel roof type house and figured out most of the material cost. Then I composed a letter to a big lumber yard and asked them for assistance. "Ye have not ,because ye ask not". Wes Martin, famous architect , old friend and a past student of Ellen's,  took my crude house drawings and made architectural drawings. So now we have some "pretty plans" to look at :-)
 
The house has now been completely stripped, with Ellen doing most of the hard labor as I run out of steam too fast and cannot do an  lot . The old T&G flooring in the original part of the house  is STILL soaking wet and all those who have come to look at the demise of our nice home are amazed how long stuff can stay wet. The large dumpster is almost full and we find it hard to believe that just drywall and  flooring can fill up a thirty yard dumpster! We sure are grateful to Waste Management!!!

Now that the house has been stripped it will just have to sit there until such time that we tear it down completely. When that day will come remains to be seen.

Friends and family are still adding to the building fund, but to date there is not enough money  to start building.  I  shall  be calling FEMA some more in hopes of more financial help....

February 24, 2005

As noted earlier the first FEMA inspector called our loss "moderate" and had FEMA issue us a check for $ 2600.00 for "house repairs"....

Last week, as a result of my "appeals letter", a second FEMA inspector arrived.   This individual was a bit more accommodating. We should be getting a check for "relocating costs" as well as a "substantial" check for damages. Just how much remains to be seen. We have heard that the maximum FEMA will
pay out is $ 25.000.00... That would be a measly hundred thousand dollars short of the actual loss...

What will we do to finance another house?

Frankly we do not know at this point in time, as all the information we have is sort of ambiguous and inconclusive. We will just have to wait and trust that the Good Lord has it all under control, as per usual!

This past week we received a letter from the SBA informing us that our application for a $125.000.00 low interest loan was  denied ( "because of our inability to repay")....so now we are back in the FEMA Grant Program, but  still waiting word as to how much help, if any , we are going to get...

In the meantime, all the wet drywall and all the soggy insulation has been removed from the house and Ellen and I are taking a breather from working in the house. For now, all the wall two by sixes are exposed ,all the sub floors have been removed and the place can dry out. Next weekend we will try to get some friends together and remove the ceiling drywall and insulation. After that task, the house will just  have to sit there until such time that we are ready to build a new house. When the time comes we will take the house apart board by board in order to salvage as much materials as we can in order to save as much as possible for use in the new house...

For now, Ellen will have to tend to the nursery, I will have to focus on making a living and the rest is up to God. We will  rest in the knowledge that HE will provide...Surely being cramped in the tiny little guest house will not be the end of the story!

   To be continued....

  It is now the middle of February and  we are still waiting for a definitive word from FEMA or the SBA. I shall be on the phone again tomorrow....

In the meantime, life goes on and things need to be dealt with:

   The foundation of the house shows  cracks and some foundation blocks busted when  the  flood water froze inside them, Ellen's beautiful stone work on the outside of the house is cracked in several places and the foundations seemed to have shifted somewhat. The white oak T&G flooring boards are cupped and totally ruined, doors no longer close properly and everything in the house was pretty much compromised beyond repair. The last "official word" we heard was that the house was declared a total loss by the SBA inspectors, who determined that it would take  $ 125.000.00 to replace it. Hello! Where are we to get THAT kind of money???
   In the meantime all the drywall has soaked up water and needs to be removed before nasty bacterial growth occurs and the house will no longer be  accessible because of the smell and dangerous mildew spores in the air.
   While I was out doing kiln repairs and demonstrations, Ellen and Brandon removed all the floor trim and soggy particle board from the floors of the master bedroom, bathroom and Elias' room. All floor nails were pulled and  all the switch and plug-in  plates were removed. All this in preparation of our friends coming this  past weekend to  help us remove  the soggy drywall so the rest of the house can begin to dry out. Since we do not yet know how much help we will receive from the government, we are saving what we can, material-wise, for possible use in the new house. As the pictures show, the demolition crew had a much easier time taking drywall down than Ellen and I had had putting it up years ago. Ellen's idea (a wise man listens to his wife!) of calling  Waste Management and see if they would donate a dumpster to receive all the mess, sure paid off : Hours after my phone call Waste Management in the person of our old friend Rick, delivered a giant 30 yard dumpster, capable of handling anything and everything we would care to dump into it. Thanks Waste Management!

    In between it all Ellen and I are hanging in there. We have no idea if we will be able to get enough financial help from the government to build a new house or when. Friends, acquaintances and strangers alike  are sending donations for which we are extremely grateful.  Not knowing where we stand financially, we are  depositing all those gifts in a building fund account. Hopefully FEMA will come through and we will be able to build a new house ( with a screened-in porch!) on higher ground to the North of the old house. Right now we just do not know what is happening and in order to keep our sanity we are re-organizing the studio buildings so that we can store "stuff" indefinitely, but sort of out of the way, so we can still function....hard to do....but we are managing.
Thanks for all the prayers and support, please keep it up!

well...it WAS a nice master bedroom....
...yes, we WILL save the walnut beams!
Paul and Chuck "attack" the kitchen,
So, Jeff! How many wheel barrows did it take?
"Demolition" is JT's middle name....
The pottery studio became a lunchroom
Ellen's vegetable soup was a hit.
Once the drywall was gone..some joy amidst the sadness: Elias scribbled this on the 2x4's when he was 4 years old while he was helping me build the closet...
...and there lie some the remnants of our home...

 When the waters finally receded, the clean up began. With help from Brandon Justice, Ellen and I removed all the build in cabinets and other architectural pieces of wood that had made this house a home for 28 years. Fortunately this cabinetmaker made "solid stuff" and most everything came
out unharmed, save for some water stains at the base of the walnut bedroom closet doors and the kitchen cabinets. The dishwasher and air conditioner as well as the hot water heater are history, but "Hey!" they can be replaced.....The hardwood floors are of course ruined, the foundation blocks
are cracked and broken and the water wicked up into the walls making the  place stink like a skunk....the house is a total loss.

    A few days after the flood a  FEMA  inspector drove up, stayed for all  of two minutes and then left. Eight days later we received a FEMA check in  the amount of $ 2600.00 ,to be used for REPAIRS on the house.....

Hello! My faith in Fema is somewhat shaken....

    At this point in time Ellen and I do not know what we are going to do or  how we are going to finance whatever it is that we are going to do. Thoughts  of a log cabin , built on higher ground, just North of the house, meander through our minds, but  that takes the sort of green stuff we do not have.  We keep hanging on to what God said: "I will never leave you nor forsake you." Elsewhere He also said that He would never hand us more than we could handle and if He DID take something away, He'd replace it with something better....Time to sell some cows, Lord?

Dear People,

On January 17th 2005  the Wabash River crested higher than it had since 1913. As you can see our house is a total loss, but fortunately the studio buildings were spared. Volunteers helped with sandbagging, which obviously did not help much, but at least we were able to remove all our belongings and they are now stored in my studio building. The little white building is Ellen's studio and as can be seen, the water was within inches of the floor. The other pictures were taken from atop my studio building. Ellen and I are "shacked up" in our little guesthouse trying to get our lives back together again. Phone service and therefore internet access has been cut and will not be restored until sometime after the 26th of January. I am sending this notice out to everybody in my address book. Please do not worry about us, we are snug as a bug in the guesthouse and one of these days when phone service has been restored we will be in touch by phone and E-mail.. For personal matters just hang tight, we're OK. Somewhere along the line we will build a new house. Don't know how yet, as the old house had no insurance, being in a flood plain and our finances are nothing to write home about. But this too will pass and we will rest in the fact that the good Lord has never handed us more than we could handle! I'll just bank on the knowledge that He has always taken care of us and will do so again, so there! Meanwhile Ellen and I can do nothing more than to get organized and sort out our options. Should you have a kiln problem please Email me. Thanks to some wonderful friends I will be able to check my Email every other day around four o'clock starting Thursday January 20th

Ellen & Rogier

Below you will see a slide show.  To give you an idea from start to finish, keep an eye on the lamp post throughout the slides.

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Here comes the water!

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