Sandy Hook residents seek continued support from neighbors following floods

Oct. 5--Three weeks after a flash flood swept into the small Maury County community of Sandy Hook, neighbors continue to rely on the support of one another to slowly move forward in the recovery process.

Without the promise of state or federal funds to aid in the relief effort, the residents of the unincorporated community have found support in the Sandy Hook Area Community Community Club.

Kathy Gandy and her husband Charles, two of the leaders of the nonprofit organization, have transformed their home, which stands unscathed from the recent flood, into a relief center for the community of about 30 displaced households.

The leaders of the community club continue to collect financial donations and supplies for their neighbors in need.

"We have been very fortunate," Gandy told The Daily Herald on Saturday, the eve of the three-week mark of the devastating floods.

Gandy said the local nonprofit organization has collected nearly $4,000 for those displaced by the flooding.

"It has been a blessing to all the neighbors," Gandy said. "We are all family out here. It has brought the neighborhood closer to together."

After two days of heavy rainfall residents said it only took minutes for floodwaters to raise and fill the low-lying community that sits alongside the banks or Big Bigby Creek on Sunday, Sept. 13.

The Maury County Fire Department said it rescued at least 24 people who were caught in rising floodwaters. The Columbia Fire and Rescue, the Mt. Pleasant Fire Department and the neighboring Ethridge Fire Department all responded to carry out the rescues.

Some responders walked half a mile through floodwaters to evacuate a family from a flooding home.

"It was one the scariest things we have been through," said Eddie Ceyrolles, who owns a home along Lawrenceburg Highway with his wife and two children, in the days following the flood.

"You are helpless," he said. "I have never seen something like this in my life."

National Weather Service meteorologist Josh Barnwell said that radar readings estimate about 6 inches fell on the southern portion of Maury County only surpassed by a stretch from Brentwood and LaVerne that saw about 8 inches of rainfall on Sunday.

A report issued by the service later in the week indicated that 5.14 inches of rain fell on the greater Mt. Pleasant area on Sunday.

The Nashville office reported a stationary frontal boundary stalled across the central portions of Middle Tennessee from Saturday into Sunday, while a persistent southwest flow brought large amounts of moisture from the of Gulf of Mexico northward, leading to a 7 hour period of nearly continuous heavy rain and thunderstorms in Middle Tennessee.

Jennifer Rodriguez left her home that Sunday afternoon in waist-deep water carrying a backpack and her two dogs. By Monday evening, the floodwaters were gone, leaving the floors of her newly purchased, recently renovated home covered in mud and trash.

A recent transplant from Southern California, Rodriguez purchased the three-bedroom home located on Sandy Hook Road in January, and had only just finished renovating it.

She, like many other residents in the area, chose not to purchase flood insurance as the region is not marked as an official flood pane despite repeated flooding.

"Those waters came up fast," said Andy Ogles, the county mayor, during a meeting of its commissioners in late September, describing when he was at the emergency command center the day of the flooding.

The mayor said he help a man who was struggling to move his care out of the flood water and had fallen into the rising waters.

"In the few minutes that I was there with them, my vehicle was completely surrounded in water," Ogles said. "Meanwhile, all the roads leading to my location where underwater. The only thing that was able to get in were the firetrucks. In about a 15-20 minute period, the water came up 100 yards. It came up and it came up fast."

"It is hard to fathom unless you have seen it with your own eyes," Ogles said.

The American Red Cross estimates that between 30 and 40 homes have been damaged due to the flood.

Sandy Hook Community Club President Steve Kelley said officials told him the damage did not surpass the $9 million in damages required to receive state and federal funding.

"It is frustrating to know there are minimum limits," Kelley said earlier this month.

A week after the flood, a large cohort of volunteers visited the community to aid in the recovery effort, although organizations have shown interest and offered donations and support, the families displaced continue the recovery process continue to move forward on their own.

"People are working on their homes," Gandy said. "They are working slowly to move back in."

The volunteer organization is traditionally responsible for programing and maintenance of the community's former schoolhouse, which is now used as a community space and event venue.

But under the new stresses of the local disaster, though, the group has transformed into a point of refuge and relief for its neighbors.

The Grady's garage has been stocked with food and supplies as a group of volunteers flocked to the community to offer a helping hand in cleaning the damaged homes and clearing their yards of debris swept through by the floodwaters.

"We make the best of it," Grady said. "The positive is the attitude that we have witnessed from all of them. It is a humbling feeling. Our house was not flooded. It helps us feel like we are giving back to our community. We want to be here for our neighbors."

How to help

The Sandy Hook Area Community Community Club continues to collect donations from members of the public to support in the relief effort.

Grady said the best way for those interested in helping to support those in need is through financial support.

A nonprofit organization, the Sandy Hook Community Community Club is a network of volunteers, so no percentage of a donation will go to cover administrative costs.

"Whatever anyone donates, all of it goes to help the victims of the flood," Gandy said. "We are all volunteers."

To make a contribution to the Sandy Hook Area Community Club, send a check to "SHACC" at 8369 Old Highway 43, Mt. Pleasant, Tenn., 38474.

"Put yourself in their shoes," Charles Grady said. "Some things you just can't plan for. How would you survive?"

Donations can also be made by phone to (931) 215-8090 using a debit or credit card.

First Farmers Bank also holds an account for group that collects contributions. Supports can make a deposit to the group at the bank.

The Sandy Hook Area Community Club can also be contacted through its Facebook page.

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