A Reflective View in the Aftermath of the Monte Rio Flood
of 2019
I bought this house after the ’97 flood. I thought about floods all the time that
first decade, until the 2006 street flood. During the next decade, flooding became a far
distant concern. Lulled by twenty years
of peace end quiet into forgetting that floods could happen, instead of my
plywood floors and walls, I converted to Dry Wall and Pergo flooring.
Week 01 – Feb 26, Tuesday to Mar 04, Monday
The Rise and Fall of the Russian River
Tuesday,
Feb 26 -Warnings range from 39-41 feet at Hacienda
It took Correy and I all afternoon to strip our family room and movie
theater venue in preparation for this week's flood. Took down the curtains that
were too low. Raised the books from bottom levels, took out all the rugs,
chairs, lamps, etc. Moved upstairs
towels, electronic equipment, and small tables.
Wednesday, Feb 27 -Rise is higher than
Warnings
We were
all in denial – it couldn’t go that high – I moved my car to Sunnyside at 4pm,
because it looked like it wasn’t going to wait until morning. Then I got a call from Wolfe’s wife at 7pm,
you had better move your car, it’s coming onto Sunnyside. I waded up to my chest, through the back yard
to get to my car and put it up on Hillside.
I switched to a swimming suit and a pair of crocs to do this – no use
destroying a shirt and pants or shoes by wading in the river sludge. I showered when I got back to the house. This is what I also did to go downstairs that
night to take pictures and save a few more things: stripped then showered.
This is my first real flood.
I had a tease in 2006, when the street had six inches of water, which
turned into sixteen inches in my garage.
This one is predicted to be bigger: maybe 44, possibly 46, worst
case 48'.
But high enough, to try and save what I can, from the rooms below.
Maybe I was wrong with the Pergo for downstairs.
I was overconfident (who, me?) and stated that it would NEVER
flood again.
I've already figured that I will install cheap pine boards next
time, which I can do myself.
It's past eight and I just moved my car already.
I watched out the front window, as strong streams were whooshing
down the faux gutters along Hwy 116, thinking, " twelve hours from now,
these will certainly be torrents, possibly a foot deep in the driveway".
Carol and I discussed that it should be safe to wait until
morning, but that was should, and she gets up a quarter a day before me. I noticed that two of my "uphill"
neighbors had already evacuated:
The driving rain is unrelenting.
The associated wind has knocked over a five-year Clematis vine, attached
to lattice work held up by a 4" X 4" in the ground.
My finch guys are ravenous from early morning through enervating, twilight-continued,
pounding rain.
I even put out big-bird food this evening for those horrid
pigeons, feeling sorry even for them.
This is what I wake up to -6:30 am.
My Front Door, My Neighbors, and
The National Guard
Actually, it is still
Rising -- higher than Warnings.
Wednesday,
Feb 27 -The Damage
I like this picture because above left
of the library is Gisela watching over; I lost the sofa bed in the movie room
and the back yard was deep with muck all the way to the fence.
The Rise and Fall of
the Russian River
Thursday,
Feb 28 -Aprรจs L’Deluge
An amazing number of things
came through unscathed. It’s looking now that I only lost one row of books and
a futon for the living room sofa bed. Who Knew: that I was a low point in Monte
Rio (my side of the river)? I found the
rest of town had already retrieved their cars, and were having fun, like Correy,
sailing boats to and fro. Alas, I was too late to catch the local market open,
so another night of beans and beer.
Tomorrow
morning, I set off for Coffee Bazaar, bright and early, thence to Home Depot to
acquire: a power washer, a Contractor’s Box of Yard/Debris Garbage bags, a few
extra tarps and bungee cords, two EZ-Ups, Hip-Waders, and a clean garden hose
for 1st-level washing of stairs and things in the yard. We pray for
a mild rain to wash the plants and ground of this brown gunk.
March 1
-Friday – Casual Dress Day
My
sister has asked, “What is the plan?” There
are multiple, concurrent plans, but I’ll break those into primary and secondary
missions.
Primary Mission is CLEAN UP.
This will take 4-5 weeks, and it will continue to rain this March and
into April. Everything will have to come
out of the downstairs at some point. But
while accomplishing that objective, we need to clean it and store it somewhere
that’s dry and safe – my upstairs is already spilling over with “saved things”.
1.)
As the water resides this March week [1], we need to clean three spots on the
property that will be set-aside for this storage goal. Concurrently we need to clean the entire
property, from back to front. The three
spots are: a) the shed, b) the back patio (that and the
shed are on concrete pads). We need a
10-foot EZ-Up for the back patio, and another one for, c) the upstairs deck
area. These areas can tolerate things like
being hosed off without getting muddy.
2.)
Week [2] is for bringing out what’s left downstairs – everything. As things are brought out, they need to be
cleaned and examined for salvageability. We need to start a disposal area for the
trash. Some things will require
extensive taking apart and cleaning, then evaluating, like washing machine, dryer,
sauna, refrigerator, sofa bed frame, dressers, propane heaters, tables, book
shelves, cabinetry. Concurrently someone
needs to go through all the books and papers to examined
for salvageability. Another
concurrent secondary project is the garage.
3.)
Once the downstairs is completely empty,
the examination for salvageability will continue on as a secondary task. Primary goals of week [3] is to assess damage
to floors and walls, possibly electricity and plumbing. This can create a lot of debris, sheet rock,
insulation, and wood mainly. It’s an
appropriate time to review load bearing timbers, floor joists, and cross
timbers. Windows and doors may need to
come out and be reinstalled. Concurrent
with these examinations is a secondary project to dry everything out. There are fans in the garage and the sauna
room. The dehumidifiers need to get
going again, maybe extra dryers. The
gray-water system needs to get going again.
4.)
A week [4] of wrapping up all projects while planning is going on for what is
to be re-installed, or newly-installed, and in what sequence: floors, walls,
windows, doors. This amounts to the planning for the month of April. Also, what to buy, replacing old things:
curtains, furniture, appliances, supplies.
5.)
April weeks following are putting it all back together again.
The Rise and Fall of the Russian River
March
1 -Friday – Casual Dress Day
Tomorrow a
major dump run and a visit to Dick's in Coddington Mall for two E-Z Ups,
10-foot canopy, to be erected in the afternoon.
BTW - all the
electrical worked simply fine. I flipped
all the breakers back on this morning. I
haven't tried the sauna yet (!?). I
haven't even dared to go into the laundry room.
Correy and I each have 2-3 pair of shoes out on the back porch covered
in "mud".
We will stop at
Payless Shoe store tomorrow for two-pair each of additional footwear.
Getting those
E-Z ups erected before next Tuesday's drenching rain is an important milestone.
Reflecting back four
weeks to Friday, March 1st
Sitting on my back
patio, where the birds and the bees used to zoom in and out around
twilight. A time just like now,
daylight-savings adjusted, but with no bees, and no hummingbirds.
We are all readjusting
to a world as it is, rather than a world as it was.
I can no longer use a
term such as, “like before”.
More appropriate would
be, “pre-repetitive flooding era”.
I Love Plywood.
Saturday, March 2 - – Garage Emptied
Out – We start our Debris Piles
Boy,
that first glass of chilled white wine tastes good.
Gisela,
I got your good-luck Gnome today and it worked already.
I heard
that 30 young men from the North County Detention Facility (the Farm) are
stopping by Monte Rio tomorrow morning to load all debris that is curbside (see
photo) into trucks. So, I redoubled our
efforts and got the garage completely empty (squeegeed clean), with the help of
Correy and friend, Ken.
Pat:
Ken worked 5 hours, side by side with me, and I gave him a fifty.
My
glass-half-full view on a yellow tag:
1) It's not a red tag. [btw: Fern's got
red-tagged because they serve food]
2) I was reminded that the tag is only for
sheet rock and may not invoke a review of other than sheet rock status.
3) There is no time limit on this, that I can
see. [3 years, I later find.]
On
balance, we made gains today:
a) cleared the back patio for staging area
b) cleared the garage
c) acquired the E-Z Ups at $60 each, which
we'll erect tomorrow after the rain
d) Correy and I now have warm, dry footwear
to continue the battle Sunday's Plan
1) Using a tarp and a dozen rubber mats,
establish a clean, dry path from the back-fence gate to the back staircase.
2) Erect E-Z Ups on the back patio and mid-way
along the above-mentioned pathway from the back fence.
3) Finish cleaning remaining non-debris in
the front yard and store it in the back-yard staging areas.
The Rise and Fall of the Russian River
March 2
-Saturday – Inspectors, Debris Piles, and then a quiet Saturday Night
Omnipresent
County Officials dominated the day along with work crews from everywhere:
family and friends. Murphy had retired firefighters
from six counties. It was a total frenzy
of activity until sunset.
Then
deathly, macabre quiet; more rain in the already wet streets; everyone
tired? Everyone contemplating? Many out for a drink or food? All sort of possibilities, but surely quiet.
I was interested in the differences
between light and dark moods, all taken with the same camera and settings, but
some light and energetic; others dark, almost noir, black and white images of
empty streets.
This was Saturday night, after a
frenetic day of de-mucking, debris-piling, gathering of friends, and serious
discussions going on within well-lit houses.
Sunday, March 3 – Trying to mellow out – Did
the crossword
We
got the EZ-ups erected and power-washed the brick pathways.
Shock is setting in. An enormous cleanup and rebuilding project
just grew larger today because, “the county wants to help”. They yellow-tagged 600 RR homes, and another
50 homes and/or businesses were red-tagged.
Thank you PRMD.
The word also came through that FEMA will not
be helping. Likewise, the County said
that they were short on funds and would not be able to clean up debris, as they
had in past floods.
Monday, March 4 – Supper Club Dinner
Take your pick, Patti, we won't get to any of these things
by this weekend.
Removal of bits and pieces, Pull all doors for later re-installation, Pull out all
dry books: box and store, Pull out all raised cabinetry and store, Wash and
store all material that wasn't in flood water (now in back yard), Pull the
cover pads (and save) from switches and wall sockets (blue tape them as a
warning), Re-Locate the Washer & Dryer and get them working again, Clean
out the refrigerator, relocate it and get it working again, Pull the two
propane heaters, clean and store
Demolition Tasks pull up flooring, pull all sheet rock including garage (yellow
tagged), Pull down all empty bookcases, pull out all floor level cabinetry, toss
any and all insulation, pull up and remove all the old front yard white picket
fencing (yellow tagged).
Joel
likes a challenge. He did almost all of
these above things, the next weekend.
And finished them within 24 hours.
Correy was in awe of the size of the debris pile. She kept wanting to
rearrange it more logically. Restructure
and move the whole pile. Not her alone,
this was a common discussion item. What
did “Curb-Side” mean?
