Some East Cape flood victims live in crumbling homes or are displaced. FEMA has denied the state’s request for help.
Their house in
The price was right. They figured it could be paid off within five years. They have modest incomes. She works as a phlebotomist at the
The home needed a lot of work: new floors, windows, siding, doors, electrical, water and gas lines. They did all of it themselves, as a team, remodeling their home room by room. What they didn't know how to do, they asked friends who did. Despite saving on labor, it wasn't cheap. Anyone who has ever gotten knee-deep into a home remodel job knows that costs can escalate quickly. It ate up every bit of their savings.
"We sunk everything we have into this house," Robert said.
Now it's sinking, and they have lost everything.
By mid-July, the
Once the basement floor collapsed, they started noticing the cracks in the walls and ceiling upstairs. The garage floor drooped and split. The pressure caused the pole that holds up the first floor over the basement to snap. "It broke the brace that holds the floor up," she said. "Just broke it in half."
They assume it's not safe to walk in the living room, but have little choice but to live here for now. Because the floor busted open, their basement takes water every time it rains. Everything they had down there was ruined. That includes valuables like their couch, television and a bed. But also those items that no amount of money could ever replace: pictures, military records, war documents from Robert's time serving in
They are looking for a new home. But it won't be easy paying two mortgages.
Help is not on the way.
On
The Rymers learned of the decision Byard made from
Robert said he lies awake at night and worries about how they will rebuild their lives. The Rhymers do not have flood insurance, though they were told it wouldn't have helped anyway since the water entered their home from the ground through their basement floor. When they called their regular home insurer, which they have through Robert's military service, they were told that sinkhole damage recovery required a special type of insurance coverage -- one they didn't have. It was in the fine print, but the Rhymers had never heard anything about it.
They hoped the federal government could help them recover.
"Let them come and stay the night here and get woken up by the pops and the creeks of the house falling through its foundation," he said of the
But the most heartbreaking thing for her is that her grandson can't visit them there. There's mold in the home and it's at risk of collapsing. The plumbing doesn't always work, and when it goes out, they have to travel across the bridge to a gas station in
"Although this incident period for this disaster ended over three months ago, the 'ground truth' for many individuals and households in the impacted areas is that little or no recovery has occurred since that time," Pritzker wrote. "In fact, for some, the situation has gotten even worse."
That applies to many in the village of
Months after floodwaters receded, it still seems as though the village is living in the midst of an active crisis. But residents here say it's as if no one outside of the immediate area notices or even cares.
"I was shocked. I couldn't believe it," Village President
"This flood has really hurt us."
In its 37-page appeal to the federal government,
The appeal notes that in
Several dozen residents left the area altogether after floodwaters forced them from a trailer court and nearby row of A-frame single-family homes this summer in
Two of those residents can be found just up the road living in a camper.
It's parked in a gravel lot next door to Babe's Fish Wagon, an under-the-radar spot that draws people from miles away for its fried river buffalo and catfish.
But they don't want to leave.
Gabelman said a family member let him borrow the camper, and the restaurant owner has been kind enough to let him use the lot.
He said he throws the business a few bucks when he has it in exchange for using its outside electricity hookup. But it's not an ideal living situation, or a permanent option. Two adults and their two dogs -- Foo-foo and Booger -- make for a cramped camper. They have no running water. He buys bottled water for drinking and cooking, and to give to the dogs. They shower and use the restroom at a next-door neighbor's home. They have a space heater, but "this thing ain't built for winter," he said.
Gabelman's younger son, a high school senior, has had to move in with a friend's family to finish out his senior year. Gabelman said that when he learned of
"I'm living in a parking lot, ya know?"
He's hoping to find a home he can buy contract-for-deed. But Gabelman said that with everything he lost in the flood, he can't afford a down payment and utility deposits on his disability income.
The Southern asked
The rule was newly revised on
The agency's guidance on the new rules states that the two principal factors
When floodwaters forced residents out of several trailers and A-frame homes in
The governor said it provided
"If this is truly
As supporting evidence, he cited the state's crushing debt burden, backlog of unpaid bills, employment loss and severely underfunded pension liability. In the letter, Pritzker said these fiscal challenges mounted in the wake of recessions in 2003 and 2017, though events leading to
The 86-year-old retiree said he was thrilled when he found a home for sale about three years ago at the corner of Illinois 3 and
For decades, he had lived about 6 miles up the road in a trailer. When the roof started showing signs of giving out, he decided it was time to look around for something else.
"I thought I was in a mansion on the hill until the water hit me," he said. When the water came into his home, it took out his washer and dryer, refrigerator and heating and air system. "The biggest thing is my floors is all buckled up and a hell of a mess here," he said.
Rudluff said he had hoped to be able to enjoy his days here after retiring from his longtime job selling used cars at a lot across the river in
Though he's without his heating system, Rudluff said he doesn't like to complain too much -- and he doesn't expect anything from the government. He has a space heater, and said he knows others have it worse.
"I can make it, unless it gets below zero. I'm a pretty tough old buzzard," he said. "I can make it by myself on a flat rock in a rainstorm. I just don't like to live like that."
Given that
But that assistance would be far more limited than what would be provided with a disaster declaration for individual assistance, which typically includes financial help for affected homeowners and renters. As to residents' specific concerns detailed in this story, Peterson said
In a small village, most people know each other, and those who can come together to help those with less, said
She and her fiance have helped elderly people clean up their homes that took in floodwater. She's been trying to raise funds to buy one man with late-stage cancer a very modest trailer to replace the unsafe one he's living in. Others have stepped up to help their neighbors, too. But few have the means to give a lot, she said. Sturm's home has also suffered expensive structural damage.
"I have a huge heart," she said, "but my pocket book isn't."
Sturm said that if she could tell President
An
With all of these heart-wrenching problems facing area residents -- for which he has few answers to offer -- Aden, the village president, said it would be nice if they could just figure out how to get the sandbags picked up. "That would be a morale boost," he said. "It's just demoralizing to look at it everyday." Indeed, the fact that the sandbags that held the town together during the height of flooding remain months later was something that numerous residents pointed to in support of their claim that it seemed like they'd been forgotten here.
A week ago, Aden and
The village has no money to pay a contractor to do it either, Aden said. If the sandbags are taken to a landfill full, the cost would be hundreds of thousands of dollars. If the bags are emptied first, the cost is far less, but the job requires more manpower. Turner estimated there are about 1 million of them strewn about town. Aden said the village had been trying to find a contractor willing to take on the job for an IOU, with a commitment that payment would be made as soon as the village received its
But when The Southern asked the
"It can be a simple email that says, 'We don't have the resources, please help us,'" she said. "It's as simple as that." Aden and Turner were surprised to learn that this was all the state was waiting on. The local and state officials connected Friday morning and talked it over.
"Just wanted to let you know,
That may be the only breakthrough coming
Editor's note: This story was updated to clarify a section about flood insurance and seepage.
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On Twitter: @MollyParkerSI
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