Hazleton native finds compassion after Colo. flood [Standard-Speaker, Hazleton, Pa.]

Sept. 29--Some residents of Boulder, Colo., have referred to recent flood waters as "apocalyptic," according to published reports, after receiving almost 20 inches of rain.

Renee Williams, who grew up in Hazleton, where flooding is rarely a concern, now lives in Boulder and will never forget Sept. 13.

Williams and her husband, Brian Nelson, recently bought their first home in Boulder and settled in only two weeks earlier with their children, Jake, 3, and Stella, who's almost 2.

"We invested everything we had in our home," Williams said.

Then it began to rain.

The creeks swelled and the river began to overflow, but it looked as though the family's home would avoid most of the floodwaters that were starting to flow down the center of the street where they live.

All that changed, though, on Friday the 13th. Roads were impassable, Williams said, and rocks could be heard coming down the street near their home at the corner of Ithaca and Table Mesa drives. Bear Creek ran over its banks, clogging the sewer system.

That morning, the couple heard a gurgling sound in the bathroom.

"Water filled up the tub and the toilet, mostly water at first but then it changed over to raw sewage and it was everywhere in the kitchen and bathroom and it covered the entire back yard," Williams said.

Neighbors were outside looking at the mess created by the backed-up sewers, and Williams was pleading with her neighbors to help.

And they did -- people who were basically strangers, since the family had just moved there recently. The neighbors had varied backgrounds but had one thing in common -- they wanted to help out.

"They managed to help my husband funnel the water out of the house and we were able to limit damage," she said.

But more rain came two days later.

"I thought we were going to lose our home but then neighbors helped us, people who were complete strangers came to our aid, amazing, beautiful, wonderful people. We were very lucky," Williams said.

An engineer, a scientist and an architect all chipped in with an idea or help in some way. They raised money and donated gift certificates to help the family. They watched Williams' children, inviting them into their homes that were not as badly damaged.

The couple was staying at the home of a neighbor as Williams recounted her harrowing story of relentless floodwaters that caused an estimated $50,000 in damage to her home.

The neighbors, she said, came with clothes and shoes, things the family needed right away.

The city of Boulder and the federal government did very little or nothing, she said, and the family has no insurance that covers a natural disaster. They were up the proverbial creek without a paddle except for the neighborhood that showed they cared.

The city finally unclogged the backed-up sewer system.

Cleanup costs began to mount: $9,200 to remove sewage from the home and another $1,200 to clean up the back yard, where soil and chemicals had to be spread to get rid of the fecal matter on the ground.

It cost another $2,100 to strip the bathroom and kitchen just to begin to remodel them.

"We need money. We want to get back in our home and try to return to some normalcy," Williams said. "The local people raised about $6,000, the neighbors are unbelievable."

She said because their home was covered with raw sewage, "the whole family had to go on antibiotics, we became sick, nothing serious, but we needed medicine. We all went to the emergency room."

The couple's bedrooms and living rooms were spared and basically untouched, but other parts of the home are not in good shape.

"People have been understanding and compassionate and have been so willing to help, donating time and money," Williams said.

"They put a fundraiser together on their own, helped babysit our children," she said. "Until you are in a natural disaster you find out it's the people that help the most. They'll send a $25 gift card for Home Depot in the mail. You just don't realize how much strangers, our neighbors, came to our aid. You have to have faith and trust."

Renee is the daughter of Ralph and Lorraine Williams of Hazleton. She attended Hazle Elementary School and Grebey Junior High School, and graduated from Hazleton Area High School in 1996.

She is an assistant principal in Denver. Her husband, formerly of Allentown, is a principal at a Boulder school.

Area residents can contact the family at [email protected].

[email protected]

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