Evacuated 2011 - Day 24 - July 15, 2011

Yesterday afternoon we were allowed into Eastwood Park to view the damage. Pat and I went on a scouting mission. What we saw was bad, actually terrible, but not as bad as we expected. The biggest problem initially was getting into the house. All the wood, doors included have swelled due to being in water and the humidity. We finally got the back door open and entered. The water was about 2 1/2 - 3 feet deep on the main floor. All carpeting is covered with a layer of mud. Wallpaper is peeling off the wall. We had left most of the windows open when we evacuated so we did have airflow through the house. We did manage to get the front door open and we were able to open more windows. The smell was not as pungent as I thought it would be BUT there is mold growing on the walls in every room. Our wood work, all quarter sawn oak, seems to have survived. we will have some refinishing to do but no warpage to speak of. Just some on a couple big closet doors. Pat pulled back some of the carpet in the dining room and the hardwood floors, (which we had never seen due to carpet covering them), are intact and not warped. If the rest of the main floor is OK we will try to sand and refinish them. There is a lot of paint on them but I believe they can be saved. We will have to replace kitchen cabinets also. The basement has about 5 feet of water in it. We will start pumping it out this weekend. The two fireplaces survived but the brass inserts are a bit rusty. Some people actually pay to get the look the flood gave us for free. The garage looks like the water came in and some one turned on a mixer and spun everything around.
All in all there is a lot of work to do. It will take some time but we intend to put the house back to what it was and maybe even a bit better in some ways. some views of the house below. The driveway and yard are covered in about 3 inches of wet, slippery mud. Lots to clean up