Eighteen months ago, approximately 11,000 Kingwood, Humble and Atascocita residents went to bed thinking they had escaped the worst of Harvey’s wrath. Hours later, they woke up to find water seeping through their windows, doors and walls in the dark of night. Without any warning. Thanks in part to the release of 80,000 cfs from the Lake Conroe dam.
However, rumor has it that one or more members of the board want to present a petition by Lake Conroe boaters to NOT lower the lake level this year. To everyone who signed that petition, I dedicate this photo essay.
Water Sculptures by Julie Yandell. Taken during evacuation. Yard decorations take on an ominous feeling in the flood.The flood cut off Woodland Hills Drive, a major escape route for people in Kingwood Lakes, the Barrington and Kings Cove.Trash Day in the Barrington after Harvey. Photo by Joy Dominique.Siding from home washed downstream during Harvey. Photo by Dan Monks.Water skiing, anyone? Photo by Sidney Nice of Atascocita Point after Harvey.Sidney Nice’s kitchen after Harvey flooded the house to a depth of 63″.Sidney Nice’s house in Atascocita Point during Harvey.Rebecca Johansen’s front door shows how deep flood waters got in her home … 40 inches.Townhomes on Marina Drive in Forest Cove. Concrete and steel were less effective at preventing erosion than blades of grass.Elderly residents of Kingwood Village Estates trying to escape as Harvey’s floodwaters rose. Twelve residents later died: six as a result of injuries sustained during evacuation and another rise as a result of stress from losing their homes.Marilyn Davenport: Home Damaged During HarveyFrom Ann Crane: “We had over 70 people helping to clear and clean our house. The Kingwood community coming together.”Jennifer Manning: “What 18 inches of floodwater can do to your home.” From Walden on Lake Houston.Jennifer Manning: “We lived in Kingwood from 1992-2012 before buying a house in Walden that was ‘built above the ’94 flood.’ We finished our rehab in June.” Ten months!The Kelsey Seybold Clinic has also been vacant since Harvey. 44% of all businesses in the Lake Houston Area Chamber were damaged. Some will never return.Picture by June Ledet of Harvey flooding in Kingwood. Corner of Kingwood Drive and Forest Garden. Flooding here cut off escape routes for thousands more.
Classroom building at Lone Star College/Kingwood flooded during Harvey after SJRA release. Six of nine buildings flooded causing more than $60 million in damage. The College just fully reopened this month.
Milan Saunders home in Kingwood LakesThat’s all, folks! Harvey flipped the baby grand piano and broke to legs off the heirloom.Repairs to IH-69 took about 10 months and $20 million, disrupting all traffic into and out of the City for hours each day.The mother of all walk in closets…Amy Slaughter’s garage.
Home of a single mother who had just lost her job.
When sewage treatment plants flooded, toilets began flowing in reverse.
So please, Lake Conroe boaters. Let’s keep this in perspective. We understand your inconvenience. Please try to understand ours. Help us recover our lives.
To see more examples of how Harvey affected the lives of Lake Houston Area residents, please see the Submissions Page of this web site. It contains images submitted by residents affected by Harvey. If you have images you would like to share, please send them in via the Submissions Page.
Posted by Bob Rehak on February 28, 2019
548 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/IMG_0082.jpg?fit=1500%2C1125&ssl=111251500adminadmin2019-02-27 21:53:092020-01-17 10:14:23The Night that 11,000 Lake Houston Area People Became Homeless
If they kept world records for flooding, surely Tammy Gunnels would have the gold medal. Her home flooded 10 times in 10 years, once due to Hurricane Harvey and the other times due to inadequate or damaged storm drains on her street. The lady, who works as a maid and has scrubbed toilets for 33 years, has sought help from Montgomery County, the State of Texas, and FEMA – all to no avail. But rather than walk away from her mortgage, she and her husband have spent a quarter of a million dollars on flood mitigation for an $80,000 house. This family not only slipped between the cracks, it got swallowed by them. Learn how two people’s lives changed forever when they bought a house from an unscrupulous seller who hid past flooding problems. I interviewed Tammy in her modest home in a modest neighborhood called River Club Estates. The neighborhood is between Sorters Road and the West Fork of the San Jacinto in Montgomery County.
Tammy Gunnels baking Christmas cookies in her kitchen with her son Justin Davis and husband Ronnie Gunnels.
Rehak: When did you buy this house?
Gunnels: In December of ’08, exactly ten years ago.
A low lot and inadequate drainage: a bad combination for the Gunnels family.
Rehak: When did you first flood?
Gunnels: Four months later, in April, ’09. We’ve flooded nine more times since. If the forecast calls for 2 to 5 inches, we have to prep for flooding. Before we built a concrete berm that runs 8 inches below and 8 inches above ground around the house, a heavy rain would flood us in half an hour. Now, it takes about two hours of heavy rain. It all depends on how fast it comes down.
Rehak: How do you prep for a flood?
Gunnels: We put all of our furniture up on wooden blocks that we store out in the garage. The only carpets we have now are area rugs, so we roll those up and put them up on couches or tables.
Extensive Flood Mitigation Efforts
Rehak: What else have you tried to mitigate flooding?
Gunnels: Everything anyone has ever suggested. The first thing to go was carpets. For a while, we tried indoor/outdoor carpets. A contractor told us we could just suck up the water after a flood with a shop vac and then dry it out with fans. But that theory only lasted until the septic backed up. So we ripped everything out and then painted the concrete. But floods make the paint bubble up. We repainted a couple times and spot painted for four years. Then after Harvey, we realized “NO MORE.” I wanted something that I never had to mess with again. So, we went to stained concrete.
Rehak: It’s beautiful. How do you like it?
Gunnels: When we get water, my husband shop-vacs it up and we’re good.
Rehak: What else have you done?
Gunnels: We have three-inch plastic baseboards instead of wood. They never rot. They are clipped into place so we can remove them before water starts coming in.
Removable kick plate conceals flood space under elevated cabinets.
We raised all the cabinets and sinks up off the floor, like in a motel. Some of those have removable plastic kick plates, too.
Because we usually only get a couple inches in the house, our sheetrock no longer goes all the way to the floor. It stops 2 inches short. We’ve installed pre-treated studs everywhere, even on the inside of the house. We use green board, which is made out of cement, instead of normal wall board which soaks up water. We’ve installed gutters and downspouts to carry the water away from the house. And we’ve put in French drains for the same reason. We’ve even elevated appliances like the water heater.
Wallboard stops above floor. All studs made from pre-treated timber, even in interior of house.
Rehak: How much water did you have in the house during Harvey.
Gunnels: Over 4 feet. That was from the river, not the street.
Source of Problems
Rehak: Do other people in the neighborhood have the same problems?
Gunnels: Since we’ve been here, aside from Harvey and the Tax Day Flood, no one else has flooded except for us and the house next door. When it starts to rain, water is supposed to drain out through the neighborhood. But there’s not enough slope or capacity to carry it away. We’re at a low point, in a little bowl.
First time we flooded was from a flash flood. We got 4 or 5 inches. Nobody in the whole, entire neighborhood flooded but us.
Insurance approved repairs up to two feet. Once we cut into the walls, we saw water marks three feet up on the studs. The people we bought the house from only disclosed two floods, neither more than a couple inches, and said it was because of the lack of maintenance from the county. We found evidence of other floods that were much worse when we started to investigate.
From Misrepresentation to Mitigation
Rehak: How did that affect your insurance?
Gunnels: When we bought the house, we were in the 500-year flood zone. So, our insurance was only $285.
After our very first flood, State Farm said you’ll have to go direct to FEMA; you’re high risk. That’s when we learned how bad the problem was. FEMA told us the house had flooded FIVE times. The sellers only disclosed two and said water had never gotten over the baseboards. That was an outright lie from the water marks under the wall board.
Once we found out all that, our contractor recommended that we build a concrete berm 8 inches below and 8 inches above ground around the house. So, we sunk money into that. We were good for a couple years. We later realized that our “good luck” was the drought. The following year, we flooded three times in a seven-week period. As soon as we got sheet rock cut, it would flood again. It just would not stop!
Don’t forget to step up when you leave through the front door!
When State Farm sent us to FEMA, FEMA wanted $2,000 per year. After constructing the berm, gutters, French drains, and more, my husband and I felt we would be OK without the insurance.
Hit Five Times in One Year Without Insurance
Then we got hit five times in one year. When I tried to get insurance, they now wanted $3,000 a year. But we hadn’t made any claims except for that one in ’09.
Not even a concrete wall around the exterior of the house was enough to stop the flooding. Gunnels tries to sop up the leakage with extra sheets.
We had done everything anyone had told us to do. Except for elevating the house. We got three different estimates for that. Not including electrical, plumbing or anything else, the lowest was over $100,000. That just wasn’t feasible for us.
Not Enough Claims Means No Buyout
At this point we were up to six or seven floods. Then the Tax Day flood happened. That’s when Montgomery County stepped in. They said, “We’re going to start offering buyouts. We asked for one, but they said, “You don’t qualify because you haven’t maintained insurance.”
I said, “Because I didn’t file claims, you won’t offer a buyout?” He said, “Unfortunately, that’s the way the system works.
So, we bit the bullet and got insurance in 2015. In our bathrooms, our vanities and everything are elevated. There’s nothing touching the floor.
Example of elevating cabinets to reduce flood damage.
I had my kitchen cabinets specially built. The kick plates are removable. They’re made out of plastic and clipped on. In a flood, I can pull off those kickplates and let the water go under. Usually, we only get a couple inches.
Rehak: But in Harvey the whole neighborhood flooded?
Gunnels: Pretty much. Just a few homes that sit up higher did not flood.
Advice For Others
Rehak: Knowing what you know now, what advice would you give homebuyers to avoid the situation you’re in?
Gunnels: Buy flood insurance and file a claim every time it floods.
Also, I didn’t know you could get a history. Of course, sellers should disclose. But sometimes they conceal things. Don’t take the seller’s word for it. Get a print out from FEMA. They’ll give you a history on any property that’s had a flood claim on it. Also, talk to neighbors. It’s very important to talk to the neighbors because we flooded without insurance, so it’s not on record. But our neighbors know.
FEMA had paid out a total of a quarter million dollars on this property BEFORE our claims. We’ve now made three.
Rehak: FEMA paid $250K. You put another $250K into it. So you have half a million dollars into a house that cost $80K.
Gunnels: (Laughs.) Yeah, pretty much. In a home built in 1967. It makes absolutely no sense.
Search for Help from Officials
I clean homes for a living. One of my clients is a lawyer. After Harvey, she sent some letters for me, trying to get a buyout. But the answer we got was, “No funds available, Montgomery County is no longer doing buyouts.”
I don’t know who to contact at this point. I contacted county commissioners Jim Clark and Ed Rinehart. I’ve contacted Cecil Bell, our state representative. I have already made plans to call the new county commissioner James Metz. He starts in January. We’ve talked to FEMA numerous times.
The county engineers came out and explained how the drainage works.
They said we need a wide drain that goes from Sorters Road to Lana Lane. We said, “Well, build it.” They said, “We can’t. It’s on private property.”
When the property owners gave them permission, they said, “Oh no, we can’t. It’s too much of a liability. We can’t do that.”
My neighbor uncovered some emails saying they were going to do it, and then somehow, the money wasn’t there for them anymore.
Emotional Losses Compound Financial Losses
Rehak: Financially, the floods have been devastating for you. How have you survived emotionally?
Gunnels: In every flood, I’ve lost something. I inherited things from my great grandmother, grandmother and mother. Slowly but surely, over nine or ten floods, I have lost everything they gave me. After each flood, I told myself that “It’s just stuff.” But at a certain point, I said, “It’s my stuff.”
The hundred-year-old family bible Gunnels inherited from her mother: an irreplaceable loss to flooding.
Everything that you look at in this house is brand new. Everything. From the lamps to the tables. To the throw rugs. I have lost everything. But with Harvey. This was lost. (She plops a swollen book on the table; at first I don’t recognize what it is.) This is my mother’s family bible from 1918. I can’t turn the pages because they are stuck together. (She breaks down crying.) That is what it does to me.
Gunnels’ husband and son return from an errand.
No Way Out
Rehak: What would you like to do now if you could do anything?
Gunnels: Get bought out. Give me anything. A FEMA trailer and a piece of land. I’ll be happy.
My grandkids who visit every two weeks religiously have their own room here and they have lost everything, too. They can’t keep toys or a doll house or anything here. In EVERY flood, we lose something..
The first thing people say when they hear about our situation is, “Well, just move.” “Really? Where are we going to move to?” We’ve even looked into walking away from this house and letting it go into foreclosure. But that ruins our credit. We wouldn’t even qualify to rent a plastic shed from Home Depot.”
“We also looked into buying another house while we still owned this one. But the bank wanted to see a year of payments made on two places before loaning the money.” There’s just nothing that anyone can suggest that we haven’t looked into.
Fighting a Tax Increase
Rehak: So, I’m guessing that if you’re running Tammy’s Maid Service and you’ve sunk a quarter million dollars into this place, you’re not a shirker.”
Gunnels: Right! (Laughs.) I’m not high educated, but I’ve scrubbed toilets for 33 years. We’ve worked for what we have.
The Montgomery County Appraisal District wanted to raise our taxes one year. “Oh ho ho,” I said. “You want to raise my taxes on thisplace? They tried to come at me with, “The home over here is worth this and the home over there is worth that.”
I said, “Look at the pictures. You got raw sewage in the ditch. I flooded this many times.” They dropped our valuation down to $60-something thousand dollars. At first, they tried to argue with us. But the board voted unanimously to lower our appraisal.
Montgomery County wanted to increase the appraisal on Gunnels’ flood-prone property, but ultimately backed down.
If this house didn’t flood, it would be worth about $160,000 with all the improvements we made. We upgraded everything. We even replaced all the wiring in the house. Replaced aluminum with copper. Put in smoke detectors. A new breaker box. The works.
I’m not asking for anything more than what I have. I’ll even take smaller. As long as it doesn’t flood.
Gunnel’s Husband: My family all lives near here. So it’s important to us that we stay in the neighborhood.
Impact on Retirement and Savings
Rehak: What next for the Gunnels family?
Gunnels: Every single time a claim is paid out on this house now, it’s taxpayer money. We waste taxes on this.
Rehak: How much have you received in flood insurance claim reimbursements?
Gunnels: About $180,000.
Home Wet Home! No way to live with it and no way to leave it.
Rehak: What has happened to your savings?
Gunnels: We’ve burned through his 401K and every bit of savings we had. DONE! He is 53. I will be 49 next month. To our name, we have about four grand in savings.
Gunnels’ Husband: I didn’t know we had that much!
All: (Belly laughs.)
Gunnels: He’s got a little bit left in his 401K. Maybe 20 grand.
Rehak: That’s not going to last very long in retirement.
Gunnels: One year. Maybe. Everybody I talked to has empathy, but apparently there is no sympathy … because “Here we are.”
This was going to be our retirement home. When we moved here, we still had two kids left in school between us. Now they’ve moved on and we have grandkids. This was going to be our last home ever. We were fixing to die in this home. And we probably WILL.
Everyone: (More belly laughs.)
Posted by Bob Rehak on December 28, 2018
486 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Gunnels_01_01.jpg?fit=1500%2C844&ssl=18441500adminadmin2018-12-27 18:00:012018-12-27 21:14:49Tammy Gunnels Flooding Story: Ten Times in Ten Years
Rebecca Johansen is a Kingwood-based CPA, specializing in taxes. Before Hurricane Harvey, using technology and remote capabilities, she was able to work primarily from her home in the Enclave. Almost 15 months later, she’s finally back in her home, but “scared to death” of the possibility of another flood. Her journey since Harvey has been a remarkable blend of heroism and humility. The only constants in her life have been stress, Lysol and sleep deprivation. Now, at age 62, her main goals in life are simply to enjoy the holidays with her family and not see a waterline on her walls. This is the sixth in a series of interviews with Harvey survivors.
Rebecca Johansen today in her kitchen, remodeled for the second time in two years. Her elderly neighbor, Jean, perched on the granite countertop during Harvey, waiting for rescuers.
Rehak: Tell me about the night of the flood.
Johansen: I owned a small generator. I remembered being without electricity during Ike for two weeks and didn’t want to go through that again. I didn’t think we would flood, but I was certain we would lose power.
Helping Elderly Neighbor
After I got my generator started, I went over to my neighbor’s house. She was 85 at the time. Her name is Jean. I said, “Come on. You’re spending the night at my house.” She refused at first, but I didn’t want her to be there by herself in the dark, especially if we flooded. She had almost drowned as a young girl and was deathly afraid of water, so we packed her medications and a change of clothes. I set her up in a spare room with a little lamp and a TV. About 10 p.m., Jean went to sleep.
Shortly after that, things started to go downhill. We started getting water in the garage, so I had to turn off the generator. Then, it was pitch black. I thought we would just get an inch or two, so I started putting stuff up on tables.
Calls for Help Go Unanswered
It was kind of hard to do in the dark. Then about 2 o’clock in the morning, water started coming in the house, too. After a while, I figured I had to get Jean someplace safer, so I put her on my kitchen counter. I told her that as soon as daybreak came, I would try to get us help. But the water was coming up pretty fast. I called 911, but I couldn’t get through.
Desperate Attempts to Attract Rescuers
When daybreak finally came, the water was coming up and up and up. I went out into the street because I could hear helicopters. But we have so many trees. They couldn’t see me. Eventually the water in the street was up to here (gesturing to her chest).
I tried crawling up on the brick wall between our houses, anything to be seen. No luck. I kept going out to find help and back in to check Jean. This went on for a while.
Eventually I made my way down the street, waving a white shirt. Finally, a helicopter saw me. They looped around and lowered a man down on a cable.
I was so worried about Jean. At one point, I went back in to check on her and she saw one of my shoes float by. She said, “Rebecca, I always did like those shoes.” We both laughed.
Rehak: You were rescued by helicopter?
Evacuation and Search for Remaining Residents
Johansen: No, he called for a boat. I can’t say enough about how professional everyone was. He was so kind. Jean was stressed. He reassured her. He said, “Everything’s going to be OK.” Then he took her up in his arms. By that time, a Coast Guard woman had come in and the two of them got her in the boat. They were just stellar.
They asked me if I knew who else on the street needed to be rescued. Then I told them about another neighbor. They went to her house and banged on the front door, but no one answered. They came back and said, “No one’s home, so we’re moving on.” I said, “I can’t believe that she isn’t there. She wouldn’t just leave the two of us here if rescuers came.”
Rescuing More Neighbors
We were about to leave. They had called another boat in to help a lady across the street. Our boat just idled for a minute to make sure they didn’t need assistance when I saw my other neighbor waving in the front window. I said “She’s there! We gotta go back.” So they went back and came out with this large suitcase. Presumably, she had been in the back of her house packing some things when they first knocked and didn’t hear them. She followed them out with another bag and a cat in one of those cat things. Then we left by boat.
“Wearing” Debris on Long, Wet Boat Ride
I had debris all in my hair and clothes. The debris that came through there was just unbelievable.
Rehak: Give me some examples. Woody?
Johansen: That kind of stuff, plus trash. I didn’t even realize at the time that the floating debris had injured me. You’re just in “fight or flight” mode. This whole arm was black and blue. It looked like someone had just beat me.
Chemical storage tank that washed up in Rebecca Johansen’s yard during Harvey.Note mud line on wall relative to the height of the people on the right.
So, they get her in the boat. We pull out. We’re on our way across Kingwood Drive, through the H-E-B parking lot, It’s pouring rain. They dropped us off by the Park ‘n Ride. We had to walk a fair distance to where you could get a ride.
Volunteers Help Transfer to Creekwood Middle School
Finally, a very nice man with his wife and daughter took us over to Creekwood Middle School in their pickup.
Rehak: Did Creekwood stay dry throughout the ordeal?
Johansen: Yes, but there was no power. Jean has compromised lungs, so I was very worried about her. She got soaked.
I said, “Jean, we have to get you into some dry clothes.” So, we go in the ladies’ room. I had a little flash light. It took her about 20 minutes to change into dry clothes, then I changed. My clothes weren’t dry, but at least they didn’t have twigs in them.
At Creekwood, the community response was overwhelming. Drinks. Water. Snacks. Clothing. Shoes. People brought food and everything you could imagine. It was amazing how quickly people responded. Just amazing.
So Bruised, Doctor Suspected “I was Battered Wife”
The next day I got an infection. Of course, I’d lost my car, so I got a ride to a clinic. I told the doctor I was there for an infection and he looked at me like I was crazy. I think he thought I was a battered wife. He said, “What in the wide world happened to you?” It was from all the flood debris bumping into me.
Rehak: How long were you in Creekwood?
Johansen: Not long. Jean’s son-in-law and daughter live in Kingwood Lakes. She has another daughter who lives in Atascocita. They were frantic, just beside themselves, worried about Jean. I let them know that she was OK and that I had her at Creekwood. They had flooded too, but had some friends pick us up. Thank God, we didn’t have to worry about that, too!
Sheltered by Strangers
For the first few days, we all stayed with the friends. I didn’t know them, but Jean said, “Stay with me.” She wanted us to be together, so I stayed four or five days, then found somewhere else.
(Johansen chokes up at this point.)
Rehak: How long did it take you to get back to your house after the flood?
Johansen: The water came up fast and went down fast. We got rescued sometime during the morning. Then a couple of days went by. I guess it was on the third day that I got to my house.
The water had drained out. It was just mud, gunk, and a couple of dead fish. It’s amazing how 40 inches of water can move things around your house. The refrigerator turned over. Furniture scattered everywhere. The garage doors buckled from water pushing against them. It was the worst sight you can imagine.
No Warnings to Evacuate
Rehak: Did you get any warnings to evacuate?
Johansen: No.
Rehak: Did you know that they were releasing water from the dam?
Johansen: No. I figured they would have to release something, but nothing like what they released. I was more worried about the power outage than the flood.
Rehak: When you first sensed that water was coming in the house, was it already too late to get your car and evacuate?
Johansen: Yes. No one could get out. Before nightfall, Kingwood Drive was already blocked off.
To not start the dam release earlier and issue proper warnings…someone really dropped the ball. That’s my personal feeling. A week before, we all knew that this storm was going to move slowly and drop a lot of rain, so I’m at a loss as to why there wasn’t an earlier release.
Battling Inexperienced Insurance Adjuster
Rehak: Did you have flood insurance?
Any place can flood. The drain on your street could get plugged with debris and you would flood. I never thought I’d need it, but yes, I had it. Thank God.
Rehak: Did you battle with adjusters and contractors?
Johansen: I think my first adjuster had never done any adjusting before. She was terrible. I ended up being a squeaky wheel. I couldn’t even get her out to the property. Eventually I got through to somebody. My insurance agent, called me. He said, “Rebecca, I don’t know whose cage you rattled, but they are going to call you and offer another adjuster. I got a call within the hour. He showed up at 8 a.m. the next morning.
At that point, I was still pretty sleep deprived. I forgot to discuss some things. So I called him back the next morning. He said, he would proceed quickly and not to worry. After three and a half weeks of hell with the first adjuster, this guy got it done in two days. I guess my perseverance paid off.
Everything was a battle at that time. You have to get a contractor. File insurance claims. Buy a new car. Find a place to live. Fight for attention with millions of other people! All at once.
Lucking Out with Great Contractor
Luckily, I had a great contractor, Randy White, owner of Superior Home Renovations. He had done my kitchen the year before. Unfortunately! (We chuckle at her joke, i.e., how she got to replace her kitchen twice in one year.)
Randy is a very good man. He’s local. He does excellent work. He’s honest. And right after the flood, he showed up to check on me to see if I was OK. Randy White was a godsend. I like him personally and I would recommend him to anyone. He’s been there for me through this whole thing.
Rehak: How long did it take him to get all the work done?
Johansen: Until mid-June. They’re still working on some things. Like I just got the exterior painted last week. But the house is basically complete. They’re just finishing punch-list items. I’m so grateful that I have Randy.
Jean Gets Back in Her Home
Rehak: What happened to Jean?
Johansen: Jean wanted to get back in her house. Kyle and Charlie Campbell, her daughter and son-in-law found a contractor for her. They hadn’t even started on their own house by the time they got Jean back in hers. Right after the flood, she was very ill with pneumonia and was hospitalized. She had a rough time, so she was everyone’s focus.
Kyle and Charlie are now working on their house in Kingwood Lakes while living with Jean.
Enclave Still the Place to Be
Rehak: Tell me about the Enclave.
Johansen: You know before the flood, people were clamoring to get into that neighborhood. Location. Location. Location. Houses were selling quickly … especially if they had updates. Everybody wanted to live in the Enclave. It skewed to retired people because it’s one story, small yards, that kind of thing. But there’s a mixture of people. The location is wonderful; there’s so much that’s walkable. You could live your life and not go much more than a mile in any direction.
I love it; I intend to live the rest of my life there as long as I’m healthy enough. But if I go through another flood again, I won’t rebuild.
Single and Senior: How She Did It
Rehak: You’re single?
Johansen: Yes.
Rehak: That makes it harder.
Johansen: Yep. No back up. Everything is on your shoulders. My livelihood. Everything.
Rehak: How did you do it?
Johansen: “One hour at a time. Also, I ended up staying with a friend who was also a client. Her husband passed away about four years ago. She travels a lot. She doesn’t have any children. And she’s super nice. She said to me, “Rebecca, I’m gone quite a bit. Why don’t you stay at my house? It’s quiet.” She lives in Sand Creek. So I stayed there and am grateful for all that she did for me. I was working seven days a week. You don’t ever do it all by yourself. People help. I was lucky to have my son, daughter, family, and so many friends and colleagues who reached out to help me. I can’t thank them enough.
Best Way to Help: “Just Show Up”
Rehak: Tell me about the help you got.
Johansen: This whole thing taught me something. If something really bad happens, and I am in a position to help, I’m not going to call and say, “What can I do to help?” I’m just going to show up. That’s what you do. You just show up. You look around and you start doing things. The people that did that for me were so special. I will be forever grateful.
Rehak: Before the flood, you worked primarily at home. Did you lose a lot of records?
Johansen: Yes. A lot of equipment was destroyed along with most of my physical files. Luckily, my main computer, laptop and backup hard drive survived.
Ensuring Flooded Files Were Destroyed Properly
Rehak: What did you do with all the files that flooded?
Johansen: That was one of the most stressful parts of the flood. I had fourteen 4-drawer file cabinets locked up in my garage and several inside. Each flooded except for the top drawer. I had to figure out how to destroy all the flooded records. No one would take them wet and you can’t just have somebody haul off records like that. I had to find a safe way to dispose of them.
I pulled all the drawers out and ServePro built a tent over them in the garage. Dehumidifiers and fans ran under the tent for four and a half weeks. When I took the tent off, I found the paper had expanded so much, it buckled the drawers. I couldn’t get anything out!
So one Sunday, we loaded all the drawers up in trucks and drove them a hundred miles north of Houston to some private property. With a hammer, I beat all those file drawers apart and got the files out.
Then we poured diesel fuel over them. It was hard to get them to burn at first. But eventually, they did. It took all day. I got back very late that night.
Late-Night Resurrection of Crucial Files
Once I got that off my plate, there were some files we had to resurrect. They went back under the tent for another week. They came out gnarly looking, let me tell you. Mud and gunk everywhere. When they were all dry, I sprayed them with Lysol and once that dried, I boxed them. Every day, I was up at my new office location till all hours peeling papers, making copies, shredding and reconstructing. A friend called me in December and said, “OK, what letter of the alphabet are you up to now?”
I was working at that seven days a week, 10 to 12 hours a day, just trying to get back to where I could function.
Rehak: Will you ever go back to working at home?
Johansen: The thought of going through that again just scares me to death. I can’t do it.
“I Know This Has Changed Me”
Rehak: What do you want your future to be? (I catch her off guard. There’s a LOOOOOONG pause.)
Johansen: You know I’ve been in recovery mode so long, I’ve just started to think about that.
I want to have a little family reunion with my son and daughter up near Seattle. We’ve arranged a trip to a little Bavarian town in the Cascades called Leavenworth. I just want to be with my kids. (Choking up again.) It’s kind of hard to talk about. I know this has changed me.
Rehak: How so?
Johansen: Well, it’s definitely taken a physical toll. I’ve started to think about what I want to do with the rest of my life and how I want to live it, because all you have is today. Things can change just like that (snapping fingers).
I’d also like to have a little bit of peaceful time back in my house and not see the water line on the wall.
Rehak: (Joking) Gee, you want it all!
Johansen: (Laughs)
Posted by Bob Rehak on November 15, 2018
443 Days after Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/IMG_0696-e1542337900447.jpg?fit=1500%2C2000&ssl=120001500adminadmin2018-11-15 16:37:442020-01-17 10:25:16The Great Escape: Rebecca Johansen’s Hurricane Harvey Experience
The Night that 11,000 Lake Houston Area People Became Homeless
Eighteen months ago, approximately 11,000 Kingwood, Humble and Atascocita residents went to bed thinking they had escaped the worst of Harvey’s wrath. Hours later, they woke up to find water seeping through their windows, doors and walls in the dark of night. Without any warning. Thanks in part to the release of 80,000 cfs from the Lake Conroe dam.
The Harris County Flood Control Damage Map shows that on the West Fork:
Ironically, Thursday, February 28, the San Jacinto River Authority will vote on whether to continue lowering the level of Lake Conroe seasonally. The measure was designed to help reduce downstream flood risk until mitigation measures can be put in place.
However, rumor has it that one or more members of the board want to present a petition by Lake Conroe boaters to NOT lower the lake level this year. To everyone who signed that petition, I dedicate this photo essay.
So please, Lake Conroe boaters. Let’s keep this in perspective. We understand your inconvenience. Please try to understand ours. Help us recover our lives.
To see more examples of how Harvey affected the lives of Lake Houston Area residents, please see the Submissions Page of this web site. It contains images submitted by residents affected by Harvey. If you have images you would like to share, please send them in via the Submissions Page.
Posted by Bob Rehak on February 28, 2019
548 Days since Hurricane Harvey
Tammy Gunnels Flooding Story: Ten Times in Ten Years
If they kept world records for flooding, surely Tammy Gunnels would have the gold medal. Her home flooded 10 times in 10 years, once due to Hurricane Harvey and the other times due to inadequate or damaged storm drains on her street. The lady, who works as a maid and has scrubbed toilets for 33 years, has sought help from Montgomery County, the State of Texas, and FEMA – all to no avail. But rather than walk away from her mortgage, she and her husband have spent a quarter of a million dollars on flood mitigation for an $80,000 house. This family not only slipped between the cracks, it got swallowed by them. Learn how two people’s lives changed forever when they bought a house from an unscrupulous seller who hid past flooding problems. I interviewed Tammy in her modest home in a modest neighborhood called River Club Estates. The neighborhood is between Sorters Road and the West Fork of the San Jacinto in Montgomery County.
Rehak: When did you buy this house?
Gunnels: In December of ’08, exactly ten years ago.
Rehak: When did you first flood?
Gunnels: Four months later, in April, ’09. We’ve flooded nine more times since. If the forecast calls for 2 to 5 inches, we have to prep for flooding. Before we built a concrete berm that runs 8 inches below and 8 inches above ground around the house, a heavy rain would flood us in half an hour. Now, it takes about two hours of heavy rain. It all depends on how fast it comes down.
Rehak: How do you prep for a flood?
Gunnels: We put all of our furniture up on wooden blocks that we store out in the garage. The only carpets we have now are area rugs, so we roll those up and put them up on couches or tables.
Extensive Flood Mitigation Efforts
Rehak: What else have you tried to mitigate flooding?
Gunnels: Everything anyone has ever suggested. The first thing to go was carpets. For a while, we tried indoor/outdoor carpets. A contractor told us we could just suck up the water after a flood with a shop vac and then dry it out with fans. But that theory only lasted until the septic backed up. So we ripped everything out and then painted the concrete. But floods make the paint bubble up. We repainted a couple times and spot painted for four years. Then after Harvey, we realized “NO MORE.” I wanted something that I never had to mess with again. So, we went to stained concrete.
Rehak: It’s beautiful. How do you like it?
Gunnels: When we get water, my husband shop-vacs it up and we’re good.
Rehak: What else have you done?
Gunnels: We have three-inch plastic baseboards instead of wood. They never rot. They are clipped into place so we can remove them before water starts coming in.
We raised all the cabinets and sinks up off the floor, like in a motel. Some of those have removable plastic kick plates, too.
Because we usually only get a couple inches in the house, our sheetrock no longer goes all the way to the floor. It stops 2 inches short. We’ve installed pre-treated studs everywhere, even on the inside of the house. We use green board, which is made out of cement, instead of normal wall board which soaks up water. We’ve installed gutters and downspouts to carry the water away from the house. And we’ve put in French drains for the same reason. We’ve even elevated appliances like the water heater.
Rehak: How much water did you have in the house during Harvey.
Gunnels: Over 4 feet. That was from the river, not the street.
Source of Problems
Rehak: Do other people in the neighborhood have the same problems?
Gunnels: Since we’ve been here, aside from Harvey and the Tax Day Flood, no one else has flooded except for us and the house next door. When it starts to rain, water is supposed to drain out through the neighborhood. But there’s not enough slope or capacity to carry it away. We’re at a low point, in a little bowl.
First time we flooded was from a flash flood. We got 4 or 5 inches. Nobody in the whole, entire neighborhood flooded but us.
Insurance approved repairs up to two feet. Once we cut into the walls, we saw water marks three feet up on the studs. The people we bought the house from only disclosed two floods, neither more than a couple inches, and said it was because of the lack of maintenance from the county. We found evidence of other floods that were much worse when we started to investigate.
From Misrepresentation to Mitigation
Rehak: How did that affect your insurance?
Gunnels: When we bought the house, we were in the 500-year flood zone. So, our insurance was only $285.
After our very first flood, State Farm said you’ll have to go direct to FEMA; you’re high risk. That’s when we learned how bad the problem was. FEMA told us the house had flooded FIVE times. The sellers only disclosed two and said water had never gotten over the baseboards. That was an outright lie from the water marks under the wall board.
Once we found out all that, our contractor recommended that we build a concrete berm 8 inches below and 8 inches above ground around the house. So, we sunk money into that. We were good for a couple years. We later realized that our “good luck” was the drought. The following year, we flooded three times in a seven-week period. As soon as we got sheet rock cut, it would flood again. It just would not stop!
When State Farm sent us to FEMA, FEMA wanted $2,000 per year. After constructing the berm, gutters, French drains, and more, my husband and I felt we would be OK without the insurance.
Hit Five Times in One Year Without Insurance
Then we got hit five times in one year. When I tried to get insurance, they now wanted $3,000 a year. But we hadn’t made any claims except for that one in ’09.
Gunnels tries to sop up the leakage with extra sheets.
We had done everything anyone had told us to do. Except for elevating the house. We got three different estimates for that. Not including electrical, plumbing or anything else, the lowest was over $100,000. That just wasn’t feasible for us.
Not Enough Claims Means No Buyout
At this point we were up to six or seven floods. Then the Tax Day flood happened. That’s when Montgomery County stepped in. They said, “We’re going to start offering buyouts. We asked for one, but they said, “You don’t qualify because you haven’t maintained insurance.”
I said, “Because I didn’t file claims, you won’t offer a buyout?” He said, “Unfortunately, that’s the way the system works.
So, we bit the bullet and got insurance in 2015. In our bathrooms, our vanities and everything are elevated. There’s nothing touching the floor.
I had my kitchen cabinets specially built. The kick plates are removable. They’re made out of plastic and clipped on. In a flood, I can pull off those kickplates and let the water go under. Usually, we only get a couple inches.
Rehak: But in Harvey the whole neighborhood flooded?
Gunnels: Pretty much. Just a few homes that sit up higher did not flood.
Advice For Others
Rehak: Knowing what you know now, what advice would you give homebuyers to avoid the situation you’re in?
Gunnels: Buy flood insurance and file a claim every time it floods.
Also, I didn’t know you could get a history. Of course, sellers should disclose. But sometimes they conceal things. Don’t take the seller’s word for it. Get a print out from FEMA. They’ll give you a history on any property that’s had a flood claim on it. Also, talk to neighbors. It’s very important to talk to the neighbors because we flooded without insurance, so it’s not on record. But our neighbors know.
FEMA had paid out a total of a quarter million dollars on this property BEFORE our claims. We’ve now made three.
Rehak: FEMA paid $250K. You put another $250K into it. So you have half a million dollars into a house that cost $80K.
Gunnels: (Laughs.) Yeah, pretty much. In a home built in 1967. It makes absolutely no sense.
Search for Help from Officials
I clean homes for a living. One of my clients is a lawyer. After Harvey, she sent some letters for me, trying to get a buyout. But the answer we got was, “No funds available, Montgomery County is no longer doing buyouts.”
I don’t know who to contact at this point. I contacted county commissioners Jim Clark and Ed Rinehart. I’ve contacted Cecil Bell, our state representative. I have already made plans to call the new county commissioner James Metz. He starts in January. We’ve talked to FEMA numerous times.
The county engineers came out and explained how the drainage works.
They said we need a wide drain that goes from Sorters Road to Lana Lane. We said, “Well, build it.” They said, “We can’t. It’s on private property.”
When the property owners gave them permission, they said, “Oh no, we can’t. It’s too much of a liability. We can’t do that.”
My neighbor uncovered some emails saying they were going to do it, and then somehow, the money wasn’t there for them anymore.
Emotional Losses Compound Financial Losses
Rehak: Financially, the floods have been devastating for you. How have you survived emotionally?
Gunnels: In every flood, I’ve lost something. I inherited things from my great grandmother, grandmother and mother. Slowly but surely, over nine or ten floods, I have lost everything they gave me. After each flood, I told myself that “It’s just stuff.” But at a certain point, I said, “It’s my stuff.”
Everything that you look at in this house is brand new. Everything. From the lamps to the tables. To the throw rugs. I have lost everything. But with Harvey. This was lost. (She plops a swollen book on the table; at first I don’t recognize what it is.) This is my mother’s family bible from 1918. I can’t turn the pages because they are stuck together. (She breaks down crying.) That is what it does to me.
Gunnels’ husband and son return from an errand.
No Way Out
Rehak: What would you like to do now if you could do anything?
Gunnels: Get bought out. Give me anything. A FEMA trailer and a piece of land. I’ll be happy.
My grandkids who visit every two weeks religiously have their own room here and they have lost everything, too. They can’t keep toys or a doll house or anything here. In EVERY flood, we lose something..
The first thing people say when they hear about our situation is, “Well, just move.” “Really? Where are we going to move to?” We’ve even looked into walking away from this house and letting it go into foreclosure. But that ruins our credit. We wouldn’t even qualify to rent a plastic shed from Home Depot.”
“We also looked into buying another house while we still owned this one. But the bank wanted to see a year of payments made on two places before loaning the money.” There’s just nothing that anyone can suggest that we haven’t looked into.
Fighting a Tax Increase
Rehak: So, I’m guessing that if you’re running Tammy’s Maid Service and you’ve sunk a quarter million dollars into this place, you’re not a shirker.”
Gunnels: Right! (Laughs.) I’m not high educated, but I’ve scrubbed toilets for 33 years. We’ve worked for what we have.
The Montgomery County Appraisal District wanted to raise our taxes one year. “Oh ho ho,” I said. “You want to raise my taxes on thisplace? They tried to come at me with, “The home over here is worth this and the home over there is worth that.”
I said, “Look at the pictures. You got raw sewage in the ditch. I flooded this many times.” They dropped our valuation down to $60-something thousand dollars. At first, they tried to argue with us. But the board voted unanimously to lower our appraisal.
If this house didn’t flood, it would be worth about $160,000 with all the improvements we made. We upgraded everything. We even replaced all the wiring in the house. Replaced aluminum with copper. Put in smoke detectors. A new breaker box. The works.
I’m not asking for anything more than what I have. I’ll even take smaller. As long as it doesn’t flood.
Gunnel’s Husband: My family all lives near here. So it’s important to us that we stay in the neighborhood.
Impact on Retirement and Savings
Rehak: What next for the Gunnels family?
Gunnels: Every single time a claim is paid out on this house now, it’s taxpayer money. We waste taxes on this.
Rehak: How much have you received in flood insurance claim reimbursements?
Gunnels: About $180,000.
Rehak: What has happened to your savings?
Gunnels: We’ve burned through his 401K and every bit of savings we had. DONE! He is 53. I will be 49 next month. To our name, we have about four grand in savings.
Gunnels’ Husband: I didn’t know we had that much!
All: (Belly laughs.)
Gunnels: He’s got a little bit left in his 401K. Maybe 20 grand.
Rehak: That’s not going to last very long in retirement.
Gunnels: One year. Maybe. Everybody I talked to has empathy, but apparently there is no sympathy … because “Here we are.”
This was going to be our retirement home. When we moved here, we still had two kids left in school between us. Now they’ve moved on and we have grandkids. This was going to be our last home ever. We were fixing to die in this home. And we probably WILL.
Everyone: (More belly laughs.)
Posted by Bob Rehak on December 28, 2018
486 Days since Hurricane Harvey
The Great Escape: Rebecca Johansen’s Hurricane Harvey Experience
Rebecca Johansen is a Kingwood-based CPA, specializing in taxes. Before Hurricane Harvey, using technology and remote capabilities, she was able to work primarily from her home in the Enclave. Almost 15 months later, she’s finally back in her home, but “scared to death” of the possibility of another flood. Her journey since Harvey has been a remarkable blend of heroism and humility. The only constants in her life have been stress, Lysol and sleep deprivation. Now, at age 62, her main goals in life are simply to enjoy the holidays with her family and not see a waterline on her walls. This is the sixth in a series of interviews with Harvey survivors.
Rebecca Johansen today in her kitchen, remodeled for the second time in two years. Her elderly neighbor, Jean, perched on the granite countertop during Harvey, waiting for rescuers.
Rehak: Tell me about the night of the flood.
Johansen: I owned a small generator. I remembered being without electricity during Ike for two weeks and didn’t want to go through that again. I didn’t think we would flood, but I was certain we would lose power.
Helping Elderly Neighbor
After I got my generator started, I went over to my neighbor’s house. She was 85 at the time. Her name is Jean. I said, “Come on. You’re spending the night at my house.” She refused at first, but I didn’t want her to be there by herself in the dark, especially if we flooded. She had almost drowned as a young girl and was deathly afraid of water, so we packed her medications and a change of clothes. I set her up in a spare room with a little lamp and a TV. About 10 p.m., Jean went to sleep.
Shortly after that, things started to go downhill. We started getting water in the garage, so I had to turn off the generator. Then, it was pitch black. I thought we would just get an inch or two, so I started putting stuff up on tables.
Calls for Help Go Unanswered
It was kind of hard to do in the dark. Then about 2 o’clock in the morning, water started coming in the house, too. After a while, I figured I had to get Jean someplace safer, so I put her on my kitchen counter. I told her that as soon as daybreak came, I would try to get us help. But the water was coming up pretty fast. I called 911, but I couldn’t get through.
Desperate Attempts to Attract Rescuers
When daybreak finally came, the water was coming up and up and up. I went out into the street because I could hear helicopters. But we have so many trees. They couldn’t see me. Eventually the water in the street was up to here (gesturing to her chest).
I tried crawling up on the brick wall between our houses, anything to be seen. No luck. I kept going out to find help and back in to check Jean. This went on for a while.
Eventually I made my way down the street, waving a white shirt. Finally, a helicopter saw me. They looped around and lowered a man down on a cable.
Rehak: You were rescued by helicopter?
Evacuation and Search for Remaining Residents
Johansen: No, he called for a boat. I can’t say enough about how professional everyone was. He was so kind. Jean was stressed. He reassured her. He said, “Everything’s going to be OK.” Then he took her up in his arms. By that time, a Coast Guard woman had come in and the two of them got her in the boat. They were just stellar.
They asked me if I knew who else on the street needed to be rescued. Then I told them about another neighbor. They went to her house and banged on the front door, but no one answered. They came back and said, “No one’s home, so we’re moving on.” I said, “I can’t believe that she isn’t there. She wouldn’t just leave the two of us here if rescuers came.”
Rescuing More Neighbors
We were about to leave. They had called another boat in to help a lady across the street. Our boat just idled for a minute to make sure they didn’t need assistance when I saw my other neighbor waving in the front window. I said “She’s there! We gotta go back.” So they went back and came out with this large suitcase. Presumably, she had been in the back of her house packing some things when they first knocked and didn’t hear them. She followed them out with another bag and a cat in one of those cat things. Then we left by boat.
“Wearing” Debris on Long, Wet Boat Ride
I had debris all in my hair and clothes. The debris that came through there was just unbelievable.
Rehak: Give me some examples. Woody?
Johansen: That kind of stuff, plus trash. I didn’t even realize at the time that the floating debris had injured me. You’re just in “fight or flight” mode. This whole arm was black and blue. It looked like someone had just beat me.
Chemical storage tank that washed up in Rebecca Johansen’s yard during Harvey.Note mud line on wall relative to the height of the people on the right.
So, they get her in the boat. We pull out. We’re on our way across Kingwood Drive, through the H-E-B parking lot, It’s pouring rain. They dropped us off by the Park ‘n Ride. We had to walk a fair distance to where you could get a ride.
Volunteers Help Transfer to Creekwood Middle School
Finally, a very nice man with his wife and daughter took us over to Creekwood Middle School in their pickup.
Rehak: Did Creekwood stay dry throughout the ordeal?
Johansen: Yes, but there was no power. Jean has compromised lungs, so I was very worried about her. She got soaked.
I said, “Jean, we have to get you into some dry clothes.” So, we go in the ladies’ room. I had a little flash light. It took her about 20 minutes to change into dry clothes, then I changed. My clothes weren’t dry, but at least they didn’t have twigs in them.
At Creekwood, the community response was overwhelming. Drinks. Water. Snacks. Clothing. Shoes. People brought food and everything you could imagine. It was amazing how quickly people responded. Just amazing.
So Bruised, Doctor Suspected “I was Battered Wife”
The next day I got an infection. Of course, I’d lost my car, so I got a ride to a clinic. I told the doctor I was there for an infection and he looked at me like I was crazy. I think he thought I was a battered wife. He said, “What in the wide world happened to you?” It was from all the flood debris bumping into me.
Rehak: How long were you in Creekwood?
Johansen: Not long. Jean’s son-in-law and daughter live in Kingwood Lakes. She has another daughter who lives in Atascocita. They were frantic, just beside themselves, worried about Jean. I let them know that she was OK and that I had her at Creekwood. They had flooded too, but had some friends pick us up. Thank God, we didn’t have to worry about that, too!
Sheltered by Strangers
For the first few days, we all stayed with the friends. I didn’t know them, but Jean said, “Stay with me.” She wanted us to be together, so I stayed four or five days, then found somewhere else.
(Johansen chokes up at this point.)
Rehak: How long did it take you to get back to your house after the flood?
Johansen: The water came up fast and went down fast. We got rescued sometime during the morning. Then a couple of days went by. I guess it was on the third day that I got to my house.
The water had drained out. It was just mud, gunk, and a couple of dead fish. It’s amazing how 40 inches of water can move things around your house. The refrigerator turned over. Furniture scattered everywhere. The garage doors buckled from water pushing against them. It was the worst sight you can imagine.
No Warnings to Evacuate
Rehak: Did you get any warnings to evacuate?
Johansen: No.
Rehak: Did you know that they were releasing water from the dam?
Johansen: No. I figured they would have to release something, but nothing like what they released. I was more worried about the power outage than the flood.
Rehak: When you first sensed that water was coming in the house, was it already too late to get your car and evacuate?
Johansen: Yes. No one could get out. Before nightfall, Kingwood Drive was already blocked off.
To not start the dam release earlier and issue proper warnings…someone really dropped the ball. That’s my personal feeling. A week before, we all knew that this storm was going to move slowly and drop a lot of rain, so I’m at a loss as to why there wasn’t an earlier release.
Battling Inexperienced Insurance Adjuster
Rehak: Did you have flood insurance?
Any place can flood. The drain on your street could get plugged with debris and you would flood. I never thought I’d need it, but yes, I had it. Thank God.
Rehak: Did you battle with adjusters and contractors?
Johansen: I think my first adjuster had never done any adjusting before. She was terrible. I ended up being a squeaky wheel. I couldn’t even get her out to the property. Eventually I got through to somebody. My insurance agent, called me. He said, “Rebecca, I don’t know whose cage you rattled, but they are going to call you and offer another adjuster. I got a call within the hour. He showed up at 8 a.m. the next morning.
At that point, I was still pretty sleep deprived. I forgot to discuss some things. So I called him back the next morning. He said, he would proceed quickly and not to worry. After three and a half weeks of hell with the first adjuster, this guy got it done in two days. I guess my perseverance paid off.
Everything was a battle at that time. You have to get a contractor. File insurance claims. Buy a new car. Find a place to live. Fight for attention with millions of other people! All at once.
Lucking Out with Great Contractor
Luckily, I had a great contractor, Randy White, owner of Superior Home Renovations. He had done my kitchen the year before. Unfortunately! (We chuckle at her joke, i.e., how she got to replace her kitchen twice in one year.)
Randy is a very good man. He’s local. He does excellent work. He’s honest. And right after the flood, he showed up to check on me to see if I was OK. Randy White was a godsend. I like him personally and I would recommend him to anyone. He’s been there for me through this whole thing.
Rehak: How long did it take him to get all the work done?
Johansen: Until mid-June. They’re still working on some things. Like I just got the exterior painted last week. But the house is basically complete. They’re just finishing punch-list items. I’m so grateful that I have Randy.
Jean Gets Back in Her Home
Rehak: What happened to Jean?
Johansen: Jean wanted to get back in her house. Kyle and Charlie Campbell, her daughter and son-in-law found a contractor for her. They hadn’t even started on their own house by the time they got Jean back in hers. Right after the flood, she was very ill with pneumonia and was hospitalized. She had a rough time, so she was everyone’s focus.
Kyle and Charlie are now working on their house in Kingwood Lakes while living with Jean.
Enclave Still the Place to Be
Rehak: Tell me about the Enclave.
Johansen: You know before the flood, people were clamoring to get into that neighborhood. Location. Location. Location. Houses were selling quickly … especially if they had updates. Everybody wanted to live in the Enclave. It skewed to retired people because it’s one story, small yards, that kind of thing. But there’s a mixture of people. The location is wonderful; there’s so much that’s walkable. You could live your life and not go much more than a mile in any direction.
I love it; I intend to live the rest of my life there as long as I’m healthy enough. But if I go through another flood again, I won’t rebuild.
Single and Senior: How She Did It
Rehak: You’re single?
Johansen: Yes.
Rehak: That makes it harder.
Johansen: Yep. No back up. Everything is on your shoulders. My livelihood. Everything.
Rehak: How did you do it?
Johansen: “One hour at a time. Also, I ended up staying with a friend who was also a client. Her husband passed away about four years ago. She travels a lot. She doesn’t have any children. And she’s super nice. She said to me, “Rebecca, I’m gone quite a bit. Why don’t you stay at my house? It’s quiet.” She lives in Sand Creek. So I stayed there and am grateful for all that she did for me. I was working seven days a week. You don’t ever do it all by yourself. People help. I was lucky to have my son, daughter, family, and so many friends and colleagues who reached out to help me. I can’t thank them enough.
Best Way to Help: “Just Show Up”
Rehak: Tell me about the help you got.
Johansen: This whole thing taught me something. If something really bad happens, and I am in a position to help, I’m not going to call and say, “What can I do to help?” I’m just going to show up. That’s what you do. You just show up. You look around and you start doing things. The people that did that for me were so special. I will be forever grateful.
Rehak: Before the flood, you worked primarily at home. Did you lose a lot of records?
Johansen: Yes. A lot of equipment was destroyed along with most of my physical files. Luckily, my main computer, laptop and backup hard drive survived.
Ensuring Flooded Files Were Destroyed Properly
Rehak: What did you do with all the files that flooded?
Johansen: That was one of the most stressful parts of the flood. I had fourteen 4-drawer file cabinets locked up in my garage and several inside. Each flooded except for the top drawer. I had to figure out how to destroy all the flooded records. No one would take them wet and you can’t just have somebody haul off records like that. I had to find a safe way to dispose of them.
I pulled all the drawers out and ServePro built a tent over them in the garage. Dehumidifiers and fans ran under the tent for four and a half weeks. When I took the tent off, I found the paper had expanded so much, it buckled the drawers. I couldn’t get anything out!
So one Sunday, we loaded all the drawers up in trucks and drove them a hundred miles north of Houston to some private property. With a hammer, I beat all those file drawers apart and got the files out.
Then we poured diesel fuel over them. It was hard to get them to burn at first. But eventually, they did. It took all day. I got back very late that night.
Late-Night Resurrection of Crucial Files
Once I got that off my plate, there were some files we had to resurrect. They went back under the tent for another week. They came out gnarly looking, let me tell you. Mud and gunk everywhere. When they were all dry, I sprayed them with Lysol and once that dried, I boxed them. Every day, I was up at my new office location till all hours peeling papers, making copies, shredding and reconstructing. A friend called me in December and said, “OK, what letter of the alphabet are you up to now?”
I was working at that seven days a week, 10 to 12 hours a day, just trying to get back to where I could function.
Rehak: Will you ever go back to working at home?
Johansen: The thought of going through that again just scares me to death. I can’t do it.
“I Know This Has Changed Me”
Rehak: What do you want your future to be? (I catch her off guard. There’s a LOOOOOONG pause.)
Johansen: You know I’ve been in recovery mode so long, I’ve just started to think about that.
I want to have a little family reunion with my son and daughter up near Seattle. We’ve arranged a trip to a little Bavarian town in the Cascades called Leavenworth. I just want to be with my kids. (Choking up again.) It’s kind of hard to talk about. I know this has changed me.
Rehak: How so?
Johansen: Well, it’s definitely taken a physical toll. I’ve started to think about what I want to do with the rest of my life and how I want to live it, because all you have is today. Things can change just like that (snapping fingers).
I’d also like to have a little bit of peaceful time back in my house and not see the water line on the wall.
Rehak: (Joking) Gee, you want it all!
Johansen: (Laughs)
Posted by Bob Rehak on November 15, 2018
443 Days after Hurricane Harvey