Goin’ To Carolina in my Mind: How to Help After Hurricane Florence

Hurricane Florence, photo courtesy of CNN

It’s hard to watch disaster strike and not know how to help.

When our house flooded a couple of years ago, I swore I would use the experience for good. Unfortunately, that means offering tips because others are going through one of the worst times in their lives.

If you're like me and want to help friends and family affected by Hurricane Florence but aren't sure what to do, here are a few things that helped us in the hours and days when several feet of water sat in our house, and in the weeks and months after floodwaters receded.

For people who are still in their homes and are in danger of flooding:

• Put valuables in a high place, like the top of a closet. If they have a second story, that's preferable.
• If you can get out:
  - Fill your car up with gas.
  - Park one vehicle in spot that’s higher than where your house is.
  (If you’re under curfew, stay put. Please follow your local law enforcement's rules. Seriously.)
• Put these things in a garbage bag and keep them close:
  - Important papers
  - Special pictures not on digital file
  - Jewelry
  - Electronics that would be difficult or expensive to replace, or that house your only copies of files. (I still mourn my waterlogged external hard drive with pictures from the last 15 years of life and friends and travel.)

If you know someone whose home has flooded:

• Start a GoFundMe for them. This feels odd to even type -- even after we benefited from so many people's kindness -- but whether or not your affected friends have flood insurance, being able to access funds quickly will be invaluable as the weeks and months after this weather event go by. Some people will prefer to do something "tangible," like donating some of the items listed below, but I speak from experience when I say that every $5 donation helps with insulation, paint, contractor fees, cabinet pulls, groceries...the list goes on.
  
  And the sooner the GoFundMe is active, the better. People across the country will see footage on the news and will want to help. A friend did this for us, and we are forever grateful.
• Secure a storage unit nearby that hasn't been flooded. They'll go fast once the waters recede, and if anything can be salvaged from a flooded home, it will need a place to stay during the rebuilding. Also, people who have flooded may be given furniture or may be able to purchase some, and they’ll have to put it somewhere. It's better to pay for one month and not need it than to realize you need one when none are available.

If you are nearby and can get tangible items to people whose houses have flooded, some immediate needs after the flood may be:

• Gift cards (Home Depot, Lowe's, grocery stores, restaurants - fast food and sit-down, hotels, Visa)
• Bath soap
• Shampoo/conditioner
• Hygiene products
• Laundry basket
• Non-perishable food
• Clothes (underwear, pajamas, gym clothes to gut/rebuild the house in, tennis shoes, work/school clothes, work/school shoes)

Please keep in mind that until your friends and family have settled into a temporary space, they will not have any place to store even the smallest things. The most helpful thing for us was when friends offered to hold onto our items for us, and told us to let them know when we were ready for them.

Some immediate tangible needs after the water recedes as they clean and restore their homes may be:

• Contractor-grade trash bags
• Heavy-duty work gloves
• Tools to gut their house (pull up flooring, tear out sheetrock, etc.)
• Tables to put items on that they will want to save.
  These tables may be used for a long time afterwards -- we were still using one from our church when we moved back into our house 9 months later and didn't have countertops yet!
• Ice chest(s)
• Brooms
• Shop vacuum
• Rubbermaid bins to save salvaged items
• Rake(s)
• Hand sanitizer

Please keep in mind that until your friends and family have settled into a temporary space – and maybe even after – they will not have any place to store even the smallest things. It’s so nice of people to want to give tangible things, but it’s so hard to find a place for anything when you’re in this situation.

Things that can help anyone who is affected:

• See the GoFundMe note above.
• Encourage anyone affected to keep a binder or expanding file for all documentation. It will be a long process, and they may have to move into more than one temporary space during the rebuilding. Starting out the process with that organization in place will be helpful.
• Start an Amazon wish list for them. They will have many needs over a long period of time, and it could be helpful for you to move forward with a list of basics that they can edit and populate as they have time (which could well be a month from now in between work, rebuilding a house, and other responsibilities).

#prayingforcarolina #carolinastrong