August 29, 2005

Saturday. Day 6 after the storm. We were allowed to leave the shelter to start the clean up at the house. The house was still boarded up and it was getting nasty in the house! The fridge was a stinking mess, our 23 cubic foot freezer was about 1/2 full and everything in it had thawed and started to rot. The trees wiped out the electrical connection to the house. Ripped the wires out of the box and top off the meter box.. It didn't matter anyway because the two pine trees in the front yard wiped out the power pole when they went down. The transformer was lying in the street. Anyway what we saw when we went into the house was disgusting.

Dry everything out and its all good to go right... NOT!

Everything in the house had started to mold, rust, corrode, fall apart, or was just so nasty smelling. When the water came in I believe the sewer system also backed up into the house. Just judging by the smell. But it seems to reason that if the waste plant isnt working that all that water is going back up some where! We did see water running out of the man hole covers on the street a couple days after the storm. I know ....ewwwww. Then people wonder why we tossed out all the dishes and silverware. It's a mental thing... would you put a spoon in your mouth that had been in that water? Not me, maybe I am just mental. The fridge and freezer had to be cleared out, so we just bagged everything in them and tossed them out. I have smelled dead things before, but I almost chucked when I smelled the fridge and the freezer was not as bad, as it took longer for the stuff in it to thaw out, I guess. The garbage bins sat out at the end of the driveway for at least 3 more weeks before regular garbage pick up was resumed. They were SO NASTY, and talk about a maggot factory! Our neighbors fridge sat on the street for months with stuff oozing out of it. Finally some one came and hauled it off. The flies after the storm were relentless!!

I was limited on space on my digital camera. So I had to take a few pictures then wait til I could get to a computer to save them. I have more pics - so many more sad pictures, but I think you are starting to get the idea...