Flood Cleanup

Isaac and I had an opportunity to help with some flood cleanup this weekend. Saturday morning we got up at 5:30 in the morning and rode with another ward member up to Martinsville, IN, which is about 100 miles Northwest of here. We met at the Martinsville ward building and then split up into work groups to go out and help some of their ward members who had been flooded. We and several other people from our stake ended up going down and helping with the house of an older sister who had been in one of the worst areas. Her small home had been flooded with water about 5 feet deep. She had only had a couple of hours to get out once the water started coming up. All of her furniture, all her appliances, basically everything she owned had been flooded. Most of it we carried out to the curb to be picked up. FEMA had hired construction workers with front loaders and backhoes who went down the street and loaded all of the debris into garbage trucks to be taken away. After cleaning out her possessions, we went through her house and cut a line 54" up on all of the walls. Then we pulled out all the drywall and all of the insulation from below that line. (Isaac really liked using a crowbar to tear out the drywall.) Then we pulled up all of the flooring except for the lowest layer of subfloor. She had nice tile in her entryway and kitchen, but the floor underneath it was wet, so even the tile had to come up. Some of the sisters helped wash and disinfect things like dishes. They also laid out some of her pictures and recipes and stuff to dry on racks. Now that her house is cleaned out, it will be left to dry for several weeks. FEMA will have to inspect it to determine if it can be repaired or if it needs to be condemned. No-one in the area has flood insurance, so they will have to hope that the government will pay for some of the reconstruction.
On Saturday night, we stayed at the Elliot's house. They are some members from the Martinsville ward that agreed to put people up for the night. They gave us dinner and breakfast again in the morning. On Sunday morning we went to church in our work clothes. Their Bishop was the only speaker in Sacrament meeting. He had only been ordained as Bishop the week before. He actually missed his own sustaining because the roads between his house and the chapel were closed. After the short Sacrament meeting was over, everyone adjourned to the gym to get assignments for the day. We went back and finished up in the same house we worked in on Saturday. Then we went to a neighbor's house who was a non-member and helped him clear out his garage, which was full of tools and books and TV's. He repaired electronics, so he had about 20 TV's in his garage that all ended up out on the street.
This weekend has reminded me about how unimportant all of our stuff is. In just a couple of hours or even minutes, it can all be gone. It is the relationships we build with other people that really matter.