Residents learn they ‘can’t fight the river’

Published 12:00 am Saturday, July 15, 2000

A family baby sitter arrived soon afterwards and helped the teenager get the 3- and 5-year old out of the home.

Saturday, July 15, 2000

A family baby sitter arrived soon afterwards and helped the teenager get the 3- and 5-year old out of the home.

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When the parents arrived home Monday, the flood waters were four inches deep on the first floor of the home.

"We ran around trying to get what clothes and other things we would need out of there. We must have only been in the house for a few minutes, and in that time, the water came up to here," said Jennie, pointing to her mid-section.

When the flood waters crested Monday night, the Nevilles could only wonder what condition their house was in.

The next morning, when all of Austin’s flood victims saw by daylight the extent of the flooding, the muddy black waters were everywhere.

By the time the waters receded and victims, like the Nevilles, could return to their homes, the harsh reality of what happened was evident.

Anything left in the basement was destroyed and much of what was on the first floor was damaged.

The Salvation Army Austin Corps and Mower County chapter of the American Red Cross were soon on their doorstep offering help, including free meals while they cleaned up the mess.

When a plumber told the Nevilles the reason their basement had backed up with sewage was that a pipe in the front yard was plugged, the head of the household came unglued.

"It ain’t my fault we got that water," he said.

Now, the Nevilles have been told by city staff the flood waters that caused their sewer line to become blocked will be their responsibility.

As Wednesday became Thursday, the next issue was the family’s insurance agent. Rather, the absence of the agent was a concern. "They had all those agents from all those companies in town after a hail storm, and this is part of a presidentially-declared disaster and we couldn’t get our agent to come see what happened," Jennie Neville said.

The Nevilles claim that unidentified contractors they called began requesting large deposits – some as high as $500 – before they would come and assess damages that needed immediate repair.

Patterson Plumbing, Heating and Water Conditioning was not one of the gougers. They came as soon as they could Thursday and returned Friday to replace a water heater.

By week’s end, the frustrations mounted despite neighbors offers of help and the list of targets included Austin Utilities for being allegedly unresponsive.

Larry Boley, Jennie’s grandfather, visited to help clean up, and Claudia Sue Lundy and her husband, Mike, also helped. Two strangers, area residents, came over to offer their assistance and members of a bike club rolled into town to also help clean up the flood mess later Friday and Saturday.

Without electricity, gas and hot water, as well as no plumbing, the house was uninhabitable.

The head of the household remained behind each evening, sleeping in his car, to ensure no looters would visit the residence.

The Nevilles have flood insurance, but whether it covers just the house or the house and its possession is unknown until the adjustor comes to visit.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency encouraged flood victims to call a toll-free number and begin the process to apply for assistance and the Nevilles did just that. "He’s supposed to come next week and he may get here before the insurance adjustor does. Wouldn’t that be something?" Neville said.

It’s a long wait

It will take weeks and, maybe, months before the Nevilles’ home life is back to normal and that’s if another flood event doesn’t happen. The latest July 9 and 10 flood was the third incident of high water in the city this summer.

The Nevilles want to remain in their home, which is freshly painted with new windows, but there may have to be some major structural repairs in the basement where mortar was pulled away from the basement wall’s cement blocks.

It’s not the heat, and it’s not the humidity that is at work here.

It’s frustration. No matter how hard relief workers try, nothing can move fast enough to undo what the disaster has done.

Faron Allan is wearing waders and, like the boots, his pants and shirt are caked with mud. Streaks flow down his arms, and his face is dripping sweat.

His wife, Jennie, and her husband’s sister, Claudia Sue Lundy, want to get some boxes to begin moving belongings from the house and into a garage.

Jennie’s grandfather, Larry Boley, shakes his head and scowls whenever his grandson-in-law tells another flood cleanup story.

Nobody smiles. Not even teenager Faron Michael, and the youngest children are not present.

"I know there are other people in trouble just like us, but you would have thought they would have had a plan for something like this because it happened before," said Neville.

"It just came up so fast. There was nothing we could do," he said. "You can’t fight the river."