From the Survival Blog
I lived in Jamestown Colorado until
three weeks ago, and was prepared for various disasters, mostly fire, and I
always expected a road system to exist. Wrong-o!
I have a more keen sense of the
Lord's blessings, and they are amazing. The outpouring of support from the
various communities that I'm in has been amazing. I am walking in
abundance, but not everybody is. My life has had a hard reboot - I was in some
middle-aged doldrums - no more! I anonymized my name and corporate affiliation
in the narrative, otherwise, it's unedited, and reflects my understanding of
the events at different times, as things unfolded.
This is a narrative of surviving a
flood in a small mountain town of 350 persons in Boulder County,
Colorado. After several days of unusual rains, the situation was
described as a 500 year flood event. On Sept 11 I was having
barbeque with a friend, and it started raining. No big deal.
On Sept 12, I could not get to work, because of road flooding, the power was
out, and I was prepared with radio, walkie talkies, electricity and food.
I thought we'd down for a couple days, or maybe a week. On Friday, Sept
13, it became clear that we were cut off from the larger world, and that
something extraordinary was occurring. I was well prepared for the
wildfires that come here, but not a flood. I always thought that the
road system would exist - and that was the biggest gap in my planning!
Here's a stream-of-consciousness
description of events, unedited.
Roger's Jamestown Flood Narrative #1
- Evacuation Sept 18 2013
The Bad:
Last Friday, Sept 13, a Chinook
helicopter evacuated my wife and I from Jamestown, Colorado with 3 cats, a
backpack each.
Even if the main road is open after
weeks or months, my house in town on a minor dirt road was across a bridge.
Bridges belong to the town, as does the water system. Rebuilding Jamestown
may occur at the earliest a year, or not at all, depending on FEMA. Given the
damage in Lyons, Longmont and Boulder ... well, Jamestown, with 300
people doesn't take priority. On Tuesday, Sept 24, I am
mounting an expedition with a couple 4WD vehicles to winterize the
houses, and get 2 cars worth of possessions. Getting things out must be done on
foot, over a makeshift bridge and ford with backpacks - even a wheelbarrow or
wagon isn't possible, and I'm hiring some younger friends that meet the inflexible
Sheriff's requirement of having a Jamestown drivers license. I am concerned
about squatters and looters, but the area's secure for a week or so.
There is no vehicle access to the
town. Jamestown may not be rebuilt - we've all heard of a ghost town.
Some great learning
opportunities! Did I mention that FEMA forms are full of questions that
you need legal papers to answer? Did I mention that Hospice Thrift Shop is the
best in Boulder? Did I mention that learning to live without my own car
is a challenge? Did I mention that learning to use the bus system (which is
quite good here) will be a hoot?
The Good: Really, I'm blessed.
My friend Norm picked us up from the Chinook [CH-47 military helicopter] at
Boulder airport, and let us stay in his spare bedroom.
Rental with 3 cats is difficult, but
it turns out my friend had a tenant not pay rent on Sept 1, and he just had
evicted him and the guy left the place smelling of cat piddle -
perfect for someone with three cats! No need to paint, re-carpet, or even put
an ad out for a new tenant, it was all done on a handshake.
My wife and I dropped in to my job to
do the admin work of setting up a new house. It is so good to
have a place with phone, printer and internet to perform change of
address, phone service, and so forth.
Someone from my work offered to
loan a spare car!
The future - I may have lost a
house, but may still have a primitive cabin! My old house above
Jamestown survived, and because it has a well (with water
that is rust-colored) and is on the main road may become habitable if
they rebuild the road. Currently, accessibility is via
seasonal mountain dirt roads and the commute to Boulder is 3.5 hours.
How great is it to have
housing, transportation and work's understanding of the situation?
It's a disaster, but not a
tragedy.
Roger's Jamestown Flood Narrative #2 - from response to recovery Sept 22 2013
The initial disaster response is
complete. Immediate physical needs of housing, furniture and
transportation are met. Martha & Marc S. loaned me a Prius, and
it's a blast to drive! Not having internet really hurts, but will be done
Thurs, Sept 26. I'm ahead of the curve in the physical world,
but behind in the infosphere, and that's okay. I can spend way
too much time on a computer. Last week, my wife had an urgent care
incident involving a tiny nick on a finger that turned to a big infection
requiring antibiotic injection. If we had stayed in Jamestown, we
would have been in real trouble. Wash your hands!
Weather permitting, I'll muster a
team on Tues Sept 24 to recover valuables. This is done with backpacks across a
footbridge, and the distance is only 1/2 mile across a new stream,
and up a steep hill. Our cars are not accessible, and still no word
on a temporary bridge to retrieve them. At least our buildings are intact, but
they are now buildings, not homes or rental houses. We'll also perform
winterization of cars and buildings (drain traps must have anti-freeze, empty
water heaters, washing machines, etc). Greg, Rick, and Nate are loaning
4WD trucks, and I look forward to using trained engineers as pack animals ;-) I
also have a couple young volunteer firefighter friends. I rent a house to
one of 'em, and every time he did a call, I told him to take $50 off the rent,
to show my appreciation of his public service. Of course, he's
eager to help too. Karma works.
FEMA help is a mixed
blessing. They provide a lot of help, but are pretty nosy. I paid
my taxes for 40 years, and getting some back would be soooo nice. FEMA is a
road show - they may leave here this week, so coordinating their inspectors
with my Jamestown expedition is challenging. It may
require 4 trips to Jamestown. My wife is affected financially, as she was a
landlord, and now has only a meager state pension, (in lieu of Social
Security), and now has rent expenses as well as loss of income. She will be
navigating state and local government assistance, as well as FEMA.
Funny how our plans can change - I thought I'd be trimming the trees and
doing some fire mitigation this month. That's one pain in the
neck that I don't have! (Later we see this wasn't true ! )
For my geek
friends, this has been a life-reboot, and I've just gotten past
POST, and am in that place where you're waiting and waiting for the OS to come
up and display the logon screen.
I have the understanding of my
company management team at this time - folks I know do not have the work
flexibility that I've been blessed with. The outpouring of generosity
from employees is noteworthy - I asked for a bed, and had 3 on
Friday by noon. I have better cookware and cutlery that I had in
Jamestown. Physical goods are abundant, and buying them
doesn't make much sense - money's a lot harder to come by than stuff.
That's all for now!
"It's a disaster, not a
tragedy"
Roger's Flood Narrative Three
Wednesday Sept 25 A backpack expedition:
On Tues, Sept 26, my wife and I went
on an expedition to retrieve our belongings from our homes in Jamestown.
Recap: The house is standing and
undamaged, but after the flood, there's no longer a road to get
there. The old road that took 30 minutes to get to Boulder is gone, and
some dirt roads must be used, but they're damaged, and the route takes 1.5
hours, and is downright hazardous. In winter it will be impossible to get from
Boulder to Jamestown some of the time, and dangerous at all times.
We were able to get to with 1/4
mile of the house, then we had to cross a makeshift foot bridge, climb a
mud path on a hill with a rope to stabilize yourself, and backpack
everything we wanted out. Besides getting our things, we
wanted to make a start on winterizing the houses - all the water must be
blown out from the P-trap pipes on dishwashers, washers, sinks, bathtubs
and toilets and replaced with antifreeze in order to have a drain system in the
springtime.
We enlisted the aid of Nate VanDuine
(software engineer), Victor Smith (firefighter), David Lindquist (firefighter),
Chris Ryan (firefighter) and Rick Sutherland (painter). Using
software engineers as pack animals is always an iffy proposition, but after
some training, Nate did great. Also, Greg Walter graciously
loaned the use his 4WD pickup, as did Nate.
It was a beautiful day, and our
mission was pretty successful - we got clothing and computers, but didn't
get things like books, cookware, or furniture, obviously! Friends at work and
in general, and the thrift stores have all provided wonderful
support. On Friday, I put out a call for a bed on an employer-sponsored
board, and had three offers by noon! People are incredibly generous, and work
is incredibly supportive at the local and national level.
Dealing with FEMA is my
next challenge. Gathering paperwork is tedious, as is waiting in
line, but all in all, I'm impressed with the FEMA response, and with the
compassionate and helpful attitude of the workers. The delivery of
services isn't perfect, but the people are pleasant, and that makes a world of
difference. They really must have learned a lot from previous disasters,
because my experience is pretty good. One big thing they learned from
Katrina is to let people bring pets on the helicopters. my wife and I
have our 3 cats, and that's huge.
In order to get aid for our
non-accessible houses, we need to be physically present for FEMA inspectors in
Jamestown, and the only scheduling mechanism is telephone at the last minute.
The rumor yesterday was that a
temporary road will be up within about a week, so that we can retrieve
our cars in Jamestown. Not having access to your car and
house is frustrating - so near yet so far! It's unlikely that the road
system will be rebuilt before 1.5 years (two summers), and may not get
rebuilt at all. The water system is a different - because the main access road
is a county road, it might get rebuilt. However, the water system is from
1930s WPA work, and was rickety - it's owned by the town of 350 persons.
Now that the distribution system is damaged, and the main plant will go
unattended, it strikes me as unlikely that we'll get the tax base
together to rebuild it to modern standards. A well isn't an option
due to state regulation. So have a house that's inaccessible at
present, may be uninhabitable for at least a 1.5 years, and possibly forever.
As mentioned in the first narrative I may have a house in a ghost town,
but it will make a great weekend getaway - the night sky will be very dark, and
perfect for my 13" Dobsonian reflector!
"It's a disaster, not a
tragedy".
Roger's Flood Narrative Four Sunday Sept 29
Roger's Flood Narrative Four Sunday Sept 29
The finish line for the sprint and
start of the marathon, and a word of advice to the prudent.
Sunday Sept 29 2013
It's been 2 weeks since I was
evacuated via Chinook helicopter from the Colorado flood. I can finally
use the Biblical and Epic as adjectives without hyperbole. Since then, I've
seen an outpouring of generosity from the communities I'm in that's been
incredible. I never thought I'd have so much goodwill to manage!
A few bad things I've seen after the
event:
The drunks in my town started
"borrowing" bottles from their neighbors who were not home. Societal
breakdown happens quickly, and normally honest people become criminals of
opportunity. I also experienced a theft after the flood, and that stings. You
can't let down your guard, and have to be vigilant when fatigued, and at the
same time gracious to others who were affected. These events bring out
criminals of opportunity and they hurt those on the margins the most. I've seen
of the homeless and marginal members of society hurt a lot. The scene of a
mentally ill person at the FEMA site harassing the guards and evacuees haunts
me still. He was eventually arrested. I can't imagine how the
security folks, police and FEMA workers maintain their civility and humor. I've
seen scammers trying to game the system and swindle refugees, which is
shameful. I've tried Korean toothpaste from the Red Cross and wow - they sure
make a different-tasting product. However, Red Cross will get my
donations in the future - for feeding us at FEMA sites, and the general immediate
assistance they provide.
In terms of life experience, I was in
a rut, and the good news is that I'm not in a rut any more!
The finish line for the sprint: A
temporary road has been built, and I'll retrieve the cars today. My FEMA
administrative will be finished tomorrow. The time for disaster, new housing
for my family, a psychological reboot and return to a semblance of normalcy has
been two weeks of running on adrenaline.
Today, Sunday Sept 29, I'm going up
for my final FEMA inspection. The drive there is grueling - it takes a couple
hours up rutted dirt roads with a lot of traffic and breakdowns, and it will be
worse in winter. The FEMA guy and I missed each other on 2 previous occasions.
There isn't land line or cell phone there, and a commute of two hours and
missing someone makes me depressed. On the other hand, when God
made time, He made lots of it, so I try to enjoy the aspens turning, and
there's plenty of chores to do in Jamestown. At 60 years of age, I get a few
joint aches doing this much physical work under a deadline, but I'm thankful
that I'm in good enough shape to do it at all. JWR's advice about physical and
spiritual fitness is to be taken seriously. I did, and now I'm glad for
it.
Writing four narratives helped
immensely, so that I have some understanding of my new situation, and to get
help from folks.
The start of the marathon: Our
buildings are undamaged, but uninhabitable due to lack of access and
water. You just can't drill a well, legally, and putting in a cistern and
having water trucked may have legal as well as logistical challenges. I have
yet to winterize the houses, but I'm hiring that out to locals. I need to
complete a fire mitigation project that I was in the middle of, and will now
hire that out too. Expensive. Ouch. The time for a new road to
looks like summer 2014. In that time, I hope to rebuild my home, but I have to
consider living in an unfamiliar community - which is not a fate worse than
death, despite my initial feelings about it ;-) My bucolic lifestyle
had it's downsides, and the ability to get a pizza delivered has some charm.
Defending the old homestead from fire, looters, and squatters will be a
challenge. I don't know if I'm up to being a combination fire and police
department. Winterizing the houses so the pipes don't burst, and maintaining
the septic systems is necessary until a water system is restored, and the FEMA
funds are uncertain. If a water system is funded, the time frame is
unclear, and there's no guarantee it will be concurrent with a road, but you
never know. I realize more keenly now that homes
require constant maintenance and use to keep them habitable. And there's
changing building code and occupancy requirements by local
government. The folks relocated by fires in Boulder county found
that only a few percent were able to rebuild to code. Insurance does not cover
inaccessibility due to flooding, and I've noticed that things have become more
expensive than when I was a lad. My best case scenario is re-occupying the
house by fall, 2014. That's what I'm hoping for.
This is going to be an interesting
engineering and planning exercise, and I'm up for it !
Here's advice in one word.
Laminate.
I had a disaster plan in place with a
friend in a neighboring community. We discussed it in advance, and the plan had
a list of procedures to follow. The plan was for a fire, but it adapted to a
flood.
Laminating a plan brings it to a
level of formality that's executable, and if it rains cats and dogs, you can
still read it!
The Lord's blessings and lamination
are a powerful combination!
Roger's Postscript and Debrief Sunday
Oct 6
Situational awareness was key to
taking the right course of action. During the rains, after the 2nd bridge
washed out, those of us on one of the "islands" that now define
Jamestown got together at the 1-room schoolhouse. Most folks didn't understand
what was happening, and thought that we'd be back up and running in a week or
two, and that between the individual preppers and the government, we'd be up
and running in a couple weeks. I had a talk with a friend that I regard as
bright, and he simply said "I was in Katrina, and I can tell you that
Jamestown is done for a year." That sentence made my situational awareness
change, and I could take appropriate action. Most folks didn't get it until a
week after they were off the helicopters. I was able to set up a new household
based on that one sentence, and I'm now helping others, and participating in
small-town government plans to rebuild. Whether we can raise the money is unknown,
but there's enough infrastructure left for it to be worth a try.
Some of JWR's readers will take issue
with me using FEMA. Don't judge me. They are there with
money, helicopters and housing. They were effective and compassionate. I
suspect that a small town in Colorado can get different treatment than the
nightmare that was Katrina, just on the basis of scale. One of the things
that they learned from Katrina is to let people bring pets - many folks had an
attitude of "I won't leave without my pet", and they were able to
make that a non-issue. I will let JWR know in a year whether I would have used
FEMA in the aftermath again.
Families with children were easy to
evacuate, older folks were harder. The older folks would not have fared well
had they stayed. One had a suspected heart attack, and there was no way to get
help to him. Don't be too attached to your home in a genuine disaster.
About 20 people remain in
Jamestown. Some of these have a good chance of
over-wintering, and they are all deep preppers whose homes were not in the
flood plain. They are all in the 55 year and up age group, for some
reason. These are the folks who own backhoes and excavators, and there
are 6 of them. They will get the rebuilding contracts. Another four are more
granola oriented, and they have experience from Peace Corps living in
Third World countries, and they've lived off-grid lives of simplicity for
years. They will get the house maintenance (winterize and watch my house during
diaspora) contracts. One of the cannabis grow ops was well set up, and that
family will thrive, barring crop failure. The others are drunks and young
hippies, who appear self-reliant, but just happened to luck out. I expect
a cull of these folks.
I'll check back in a year and let you
know my experience with FEMA and more.
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