Kingsland residents dry out from flooding although they lived outside flood zone

Sept. 28--KINGSLAND, Ga. -- Residents of several subdivisions in Kingsland didn't think they needed flood insurance because their homes were outside the flood zone.

But now many are piecing their homes back together after Tropical Storm Irma brought flooding that left some with three feet of water inside the houses, ruining dry wall, floors and electrical circuits. Mold is now setting in.

In Lake Vine South in eastern Kingsland, only three of 51 homes escaped flood damage and only three have flood coverage, said Christopher Peete, who stood on the bare concrete floor that once was covered with wood.

"We moved in in November 2003," he said. "It was our first house. We were the very first house in the neighborhood."

Peete, his wife, Amy, and their sons, Ryan, 12, and Brian, 7, and Amy's mother evacuated to Decatur, Ala., on Sept. 8 when they believed Irma would come up the Atlantic coast as a major hurricane. The forecast track shifted farther and farther west and the family came home Sept. 10 after an enjoyable day in antique shops.

They got to the entrance to their neighborhood about 10 p.m. and saw the street was flooded, but it had flooded before, Peete said.

They went inside but left everything packed in their vehicle.

"We went to bed about 12:15 [a.m.]," he said. "Between 3 and 3:30 [a.m.], the storm woke me up."

He looked out and saw the water had crept up to a tree in the yard, as it had before with no problems, so he dozed off.

Amy Peete woke up at 6:45 a.m. and put a foot down on wet carpet.

Looking out again, Peete said, "It looked like these homes were sitting in the middle of a lake."

They evacuated to higher ground and now are living in a camping trailer borrowed from his brother-in-law.

Their church, First Baptist of Kingsland, has been amazingly helpful and one member, a developer, has sent crews over to replace the sheet rock and insulation that was soaked three feet up, put in new door facings and paint.

Some of the kitchen cabinets are out and there's a faint smell of bleach. His insurance provider has told him it can't pay for damage from rising water because he had no flood insurance, and Peete said he is hopeful for individual assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Across the street, some neighbors said they don't know when their house will be repaired. They're renting and believe the landlord wants them to stay, said Kris Pauline Day.

For now, she and her husband, Navy retiree Dave Day, are living on base free, but they have until the Sept. 30 then they may have to pay.

They saw no need to leave until the water started coming up rapidly.

"When we left, it was above my knees. Out here," she said of the roadway, "it was above my chest."

At a house across the street, contract workers George Akers and Jerry Thurman were stripping the floors from a house. They already had taken out the sheet rock up to four feet.

"The rule of thumb is the house has to be only a foot above the road," Akers said. "If the roads got 3 1/2 feet of water in it, it's in your house."

Tamyra Suzor wants some questions answered. She and plenty of neighbors believe they wouldn't have been flooded if the drainage canals had let the rain water run off before the storm surge.

She was high and dry staying with friends at Laurel Island, but they were marooned by flooded roads, she said.

She was glad she got out before the storm because some had to be rescued from her neighborhood.

"Some of my neighbors had to be put on air mattresses and taken out in the middle of the night," she said.

There were about as many storage containers as cars in driveways in the subdivision Thursday morning. There were piles of sheet rock and furniture in some yards and now and then, solitary appliance.

The story was slightly better west of downtown Kingsland, but the lower lying areas of a couple of subdivisions flooded.

In Wolf Bay, Hector Gonzalez loaded salvaged possessions into a storage container Thursday. He couldn't get one for right away, he said, because the rental agency ran out and had to order new ones. He got his two days earlier.

Gonzalez said he was frustrated because he was denied flood insurance. "I requested flood insurance," he said. "The lady said this is not a flood zone. She couldn't sell it to me."

He was told the same thing as Peete, that his insurance didn't cover rising water. "I have lawyers looking into it to see what we can do," he said.

Gonzalez has more to worry about than himself. A native of Puerto Rico, he has a mother-in-law and son still there after it was devastated by Hurricane Maria.

"They're OK," but had gone days without power, he said.

Gonzalez said he has had seven strokes and survived cancer, but is still working to save his possessions.

Peete said working at his house is taking a toll. His son Tyler was out of school sick Thursday and he has bronchitis, possibly from the sheet rock dust.

Besides that, you just get beaten down, he said.

"I'm ready for my own bed," Peete said. "I'm mentally tired."

Terry Dickson: (912) 264-0405

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