Stories PG2

I have sent a sample of pictures of what i lost in a matter of two hours during the storm of 07 September 2021.

I got off work at 2300 hrs and as i getting ready to wind down, i was introduced to mother nature’s fury as it unleashed almost 5 ft of water into my lower level.

Damages: Total loss of two vehicles, washer and dryer, water heater, heating and cooling, furniture, tools and other items i stored.

What did i do?

I called FEMA who referred me to GEMA who then pushed me to Cobb Emergency Management who stated that i need to contact Red Cross for housing assistance. What a Joke!!!

Then to my surprise, GEMA/FEMA reps came over to my property twice and took pictures stating that “they are working on the case to provide relief”

But obviously, so far nothing has happened!

I had to start from scratch and i did all the drying and drywall replacement and of course i went into additional debt to bring my house back in order while receiving the common phrase “We are very sorry for your losses but there is nothing we can do for you, since it does not meet the threshold of a state level natural disaster “

My wife and I bought a house in Weatherstone subdivision in 1998 and were thrilled with the location of the neighborhood to the schools, location to Atlanta, the airport and my Business. The fact the house was in a flood plane didn’t seem like a big thing to deal with, flood insurance a must with the mortgage company, we were ready to move into our new house.

We did get some water into the house a short time later, just enough to have to change some of the carpets with a claim of $5,000. A couple years later the water was more and this time the claim was for $9,000, and then in 2015, a couple inches of water for a claim of $18,000. This particular time, we had to replace all the flooring on the main level (on a sub) and did a lot of the work by myself because the insurance never gives what is necessary to completely pay for replacement-labor items. During the last 15 years, we spent at least $15,000 to upgrade the landscaping, recontour the back yard, connect the downspouts to underground drains utilized to change the flow of water around the house. The money for these upgrades was well spent and when heavy rains came, the irrigation held up even when hurricane remnants came through.

However, Sept 7 was a different ending to this sad story of moisture in my house. By 11 pm, I knew water would come into the house but it would be more this time than ever before. I got my shop vac out to pick up water as it came into the house but within seconds, I knew the vac would be of little help. There is nothing more dreadful than seeing water come towards your house and not being anything you can do to stop it. I quickly tried to save things that may get wet but I didn’t know the depth would get to 22 inches! Close your eyes and imagine 22 inches of water on the main floor of your house without preparation.

The water entered china cabinets, dishwasher, refrigerator, kitchen cabinets, washer and dryer, closets, garage, tool cabinet, grandfather clock, hot water heater, air-conditioning units, ruining all the floors placed in 2015, furniture, tools, vacuum, lamps, chairs, TV, and last but not least, two automobiles! There was a 35 inch water line on the outside of the house and 22 inches of water on the inside.

So, with heavy rains over the years, including hurricane remnants, water never reached these depths or ever created so much damage, to my house or to homes in my neighborhood. My next door neighbor has never had water in his home before but this time, he got 18 inches in his walk in basement. Fortunately, his basement is unfinished so his damage was minimal except for items of storage in his basement.

I do have flood insurance through FEMA but for only structure. My content coverage was through my homeowners insurance which if found out afterwards that my coverage only covers indoor water damage from internal leaks, thus my contents are a total loss.

My question is, why has the water flow increased since 1998 at my residence. Is it due to unmanaged water issues, outdated water engineering, housing growth that has overextended water management, or just lack of maintenance.

I personally am not looking for Cobb County to offer money or low interest loans to me, I want the floods to stop at my residence, period! I want the Cobb Commissioner's to take this water management, seriously just as they do when the Atlanta Braves want to build on Cobb property. Cobb has the resources to figure this out and I hope they do just that, figure it out.

Respectfully,

Jeffrey Sims

I am supporting my mother who does not work and she is living in the house affected. in addition to working for the Army and Home Depot, i don’t have fluid cash to handle such an expense in a short notice while also trying to be a provider for my wife and daughter.

My neighbor had a clean up crew who stopped by the morning of 8 September and said it would be upwards of 30 thousand to clean, demo and replace the insulation and drywall.

My insurance company said “We are terribly sorry but we can not help you since it is outside water coming in and it is a natural cause” although it is a documented fact that the underlying infrastructure is the culprit and couldn’t handle the sustained rain fall of 6inches.

My mother was distraught and heartbroken to see that no one cared or offered assistance but instead so called officials came, took pictures and left. She is from Ethiopia and simply said “i thought things would be different in the USA where the government is accountable”, She even lamented and asked if the Army would do anything? Funny thing is, i actually contacted VA resources and the question i got is “Are you planning on killing yourself?”. At the moment, it was the funniest statement and reinforced my motivation to undertake the clean up, demo and rebuild upon myself!

I knew that Cobb county betrayed us because their approach was based on avoidance and acknowledgment of responsibility.

The Smyrna Emergency Management Chief told me that if i was under his jurisdiction, he would have helped. He sent me all the contact information of Cassie Mazloom. I contacted her until she finally reached out and said “Sorry Mr Champion, we don’t meet the threshold of a state emergency and we won’t be able to help you. If you need housing assistance, please contact the red cross for temporary housing”

That did it, i was mad and triggered my military mindset of overcoming any obstacle without the support of well fed bureaucrats, who simply look at us as emotional/entitled residents while ignoring the fact that we had been hit hard and we simply needed the county to acknowledge and say “here are the available resources we brought, how can we help”

Why should they? It’s perfectly fine to raise property taxes every year and chase various pet projects while ignoring the underlying infrastructure degradation.

Why would they support a small sample of hard working residents who may loose their investments because in the big picture, 30 houses condemned means a new opportunity for new builders to come in and bring in more money to them!

Why should they acknowledge fault? that will make them liable for decades long of unaccountable record keeping of the severely degraded storm drains!

The option cobb offered from what i understand is:

- Home owners are liable to repair the infrastructure if it is in close proximity to their property (this is from my flood insurance agent, which i bought after the event)

- Provide loans (saddle us with debt) that on a publicity front allows the county to save face and say “we gave them resources and it’s up to them to use it”

I have used all my sick time from work to bring my house back to order, My mother’s shock and sadness decreased when she saw that we will overcome!, but the wound of us being forgotten by the so called county is still there.

My vehicles were completely paid off!! and my tuck was dear to me because it took two deployments to get my dream truck and it was gone in a flash!

Flood Story - Royal Oak Drive