Good News!

Some Good News! Our FEMA grant has come in and we have received the maximum allowance for a single family! $30,000! Yay FEMA! The flip side of this of course, is that the estimates for rebuilding have been coming in at @ $65,000. So, as we have known all along, we will be doing the rebuild ourselves, a bit at a time, with a little help from our friends and family.



We returned the rented industrial dehumidifiers and air movers on Tuesday, to the tune of $3,600. Similar work, the demolition of sheet rock and flooring, and rental machinery has cost our neighbors around $10,000, so we are doing very well thus far. The house is fairly dry and continues to dry out. We will have to live as we are for several weeks now and let the house continue to dry and make sure no mold occurs. So, far, so good. Everything looks clean at this point. One sticking point unfortunately is that we have a double layer of sub-flooring in our kitchen. This will have to come up, as there is certain to be water trapped between the layers. We are getting conflicting recommendations as to whether we can/should save our kitchen cabinets or not... time will tell, I guess.



The first aspect of the rebuild will be heating and air conditioning, duct work under the house, etc. This we will not be able to do ourselves. The first estimates are around $8,000. The second piece will be insulation for the under house crawl space and the first floor living space. Again, we will have to wait until the house is thoroughly dry. Those of you that have sent Home Depot gift cards, thank you, and this is likely where those first dollars will go, towards insulation.



Our homeowners insurance has agreed to pay for a new roof. We had a branch create a hole in the roof, from the 7 day storm. So hopefully, that work will start soon.



We joined our friends, Bob and Laurie Molloy, from NC, on Tuesday, and went to see a U2 concert, here in Atlanta. It was fun to have a break and a night out with friends.



We continue to open the mail and email and find generous gifts from friends and family and work acquaintances. Your support and encouragement is touching and appreciated.



We will keep you informed of our progress. It definitely feels like we are all in this together and we are grateful for your support and our loving community.



Love and light,

Gloria and David