County comes back

MEDORA - One year later, Carolyn Thompson, 65, still cries at the memory of losing her home.

The only remnants she has left are her television, the stand it sits on and some of the more than 500 salt and pepper shakers her late husband collected. There also are a few pictures of the house tucked away in an expandable file.

She and many other Medora residents continue to be haunted by the devastation that was left in the wake of the June 8, 2008, flood.
"It was a nightmare," Thompson said, recalling the day she fled from her home at 157 E. Adams St., leaving everything behind.
Police officers had visited Thompson and her neighbors that day warning them to evacuate.

Thompson said she grabbed some clothes and her medication, thinking she would be back the next day.

"I put what I could up off the floor, but I never dreamed it would get inside," she said. "I've been here 35 years, and before this, the water had only got to the steps."

Because of where it sat, Thompson's house was one of the first and worst in Medora to be hit by the flood.

"They thought the water was going to tear off the side of the house because of the pressure," she said. "I'm just glad I wasn't inside. Had the flood come late at night, I would have drowned, the water was so deep."

Although the side of the house remained intact, the extent of the damage was too much.

"Everything smelled like fish and was covered in mud," she said. "It just made you sick."

Once the water had receded, Thompson had to watch workers tear down her home. She had no flood insurance.

"No one told us we needed it," she said. "I had just paid everything off and had got all new stuff with my tax check," she said. "And this happened and took it all away."

Three months later, with assistance from the Federal Agency and by taking out money from her retirement plan, Thompson was able to purchase a trailer.

Although she'll never forget the flood, she is moving on.

"I got my trailer on Sept. 11, and Oct. 3 was when I got to stay in it for the first time." she said. "I'm proud of my trailer. I've never had nothing new like this of my own, so I just love it. For one thing, I never had kitchen cabinets in my old home or air conditioning all through and now I do."

Besides her home, Thompson had to replace all of her belongings. Most of her new things were given to her as donations.
"All my furniture came from a family out at Mutton Creek," she said. "They were moving to Florida and didn't want to take it with them. I can't thank them enough."

She also received items that had been donated to local agencies such as the Jackson County Chapter of the American Red Cross.
"I didn't have towels or washcloths and I got all those out at the Carr Township Conservation Club," she said. "One day it was raining and I realized the river took my umbrella away, so someone there gave me a new umbrella, too."

For more than a month, volunteers from the Medora Lions Club, Jackson County United Way, Red Cross, Child Care Network, Long-Term Recovery Committee, various churches and other groups manned a comfort center at the clubhouse, where residents could come for food, shelter, clothes, child care and other needs. If anything good came out of the flood, it was the willingness of people, even complete strangers, to lend a helping hand, Thompson said.

"We're a small town, but we all came together to help each other," she said. "I hate for something like this to have to happen to show that, though."

Thanks to members of Driftwood Christian Church, Clearspring Baptist Church, Medora Christian Church and other local congregations, Thompson now has two new decks on her home to enjoy.

"They came and built decks for me on the front and back of the trailer," she said.

 "They did such a good job and I love sitting out there."

For all she has received, Thompson said she likes to do what she can to give back.

"I've always done volunteer work," she said. "If anybody wants something, I try to help them because at some point you're going to need someone's help like I did."

As for the possibility of another flood hitting Medora, Thompson said she doesn't think about that.

"It might someday, but I hope not," she said. "I just hope it never happens again."

Her resiliency as well as her neighbors' is what she wants people to remember and take from the memories of the flood.
"Where there is a will, there is way," she said. "I just realized I've got to brace up and do this."

The Reynoldses

One year later, Bob and Annice Reynolds of Medora have moved back into their house after having to gut the inside.

"We had to take everything out," Annice said of their home at 148 S. Mill St., just over the railroad tracks from Thompson's home. "The floors, walls, only the ceiling was left."

Walking in and out of rooms, she points to various pieces of furniture that survived the flood.

"You can see the marks where the water came up there on the legs," she said of her kitchen table. "And there on the bed and dresser. Thankfully, we were able to clean up and salvage some things, but we still had to get rid of a lot of furniture."
Neither Annice nor Bob remember the water ever getting so high.

"We've lived here since 1962 and the water has been up even with the porch, but that's it," Annice said.

"I think 1913 was the closest but I wasn't around then to know," Bob added.

The Reynoldses didn't get to move back into their home until five months after the flood.

"It was different. We knew it was home but it just looked different," Annice said.

While volunteers and workers ripped out the interior of the house, Annice and her husband moved around, staying with different relatives.

"We just moved from one place to another," she said.

Like Thompson, Annice said she doesn't know how she and Bob would have made it through the ordeal if it hadn't been for others opening their hearts to help them out.

"Tonya (Couch) from United Way and Duane (Davis) from Emergency Management checked on us at least once a week, usually more," Annice said.

"Everyone pitched in, churches, the Red Cross, everybody."

Even FEMA, which the couple had questioned, came through with assistance for them. "We doubted FEMA at first after all we had heard, but they did a really good job of getting in here and getting things going quickly," Annice said.

There are still a few things Annice said she would like to see done to the house.

"I've still got some kitchen cabinets to replace, but we're real satisfied with the work that was done," she said. While many were overwhelmed by the disaster, Annice said she just couldn't think about it too much.

"We just took each day as it came," she said. "You just have to trust in the Lord to help you with it."

The Millers

One year later, Chris and Debbie Miller of Medora are still living in a barn, waiting to rebuild.

"We're still recovering," Debbie said. "It's been kind of slow going for us. Every time we got an option that we thought was going to work, they were putting stops in front of us."

The family had been remodeling a home to move into when the flood came.

"We were just getting everything finished," she said.

At first, Debbie said she didn't think they would be able to put another house on the property at 5222 W. 125S.

"It was hard hearing rumors that we were going to be forced to leave our property," she said.

The house the Millers were living in at the time of the flood was a complete loss, too. "It had two feet of water in it. It was a total content loss. I remember I cried," she said. "Now, we're still living in a little barn."

When the flood came, Miller said they were trapped.

"We were in the house when the water came and we ended up getting out and staying in an abandoned house for eight days," she said. "You would look around and it looked like something out of a Third World country. It was one of the most awful things I've ever seen."

The family had nowhere to go, Debbie said.

"The water was deeper than we were tall," she said. "The current was coming from every direction; it would have been too dangerous to try to get out. We would have needed a boat."

Initially, the family got a lot of assistance from the United Way Long-Term Recovery Committee and other groups.

"We were able to get a lot from them, clothes, furniture, household stuff, but the problem was we had no house to put it all in," she said.

Miller said they had flood insurance but had to use that money to pay their mortgage. But like other flood victims, the Millers have not lost their determination and will to move on.

"We are trudging along and trying to redo the house," Debbie said. "It's been a long and stressful event, but we're getting there by doing it a little at a time."