Helping Flood Victims

I had an amazing oppertunity with the Bloomington YSA to help flood victims in Terre Haute, Indiana last Saturday. It was a busy day!! I woke up at 6am and headed North with a group and we ended up working on a house that had been gutted completely out, the family lost everything. Their back yard meets a levy and it ended up working against them when the flood came. The water went over the levy and was held in by it. Seven feet of water hit their house in five minutes and they didn't have flood insurance.

They had their elderly father visiting from Las Vegas and he is blind, I could not imagine how scary it would be to have to swim out of the house onto the rescue boats blind in a strange house.

The family helped us with the clean up efforts and I really enjoyed meeting them. The father of the house is a professor at IU's medical school and started and runs a brain tissue bank. (he is a neuroscientist that specializes in Alzheimer's) and his wife was so sweet. No one knew them prior to helping and it amazes me that we just show up at places where people are in need and ask around if anyone needs any help. The response to that is amazing.

I ended up under the house tearing out ventilation systems and bleaching the outside walls of the house and the deck then pressure cleaning everything.

On the way back to the church for lunch the girls and I were dancing to "I will survive" in the car and this elderly man beside us (wearing raybans!!) was slurping on his fast food drink and staring at us. So I waved and he waved back and I gave him a thumbs up and he did it back. Then as he pulled away he threw his cup at the side of our car and flipped us off!!!! It was the craziest thing ever!!