--- What A Long, Starnge, Trip It's Been ---

To the world, you are one person...but to one person, you are the world!

�The Flood Details- a little late.
2004-09-30 at 1:44 p.m.

I noticed that I haven't actually posted any information about "The Flood" here, though I did on my AOL Journal. (Link to that is here somewhere, on the right.) So I guess I should mention it, since I mention it frequently and no one has a clue what happened...
Hurricane Frances hit western NY as a VERY long wind storm with heavy rain. Heavy is an understatement- the fire department where I work was devastated. The firemen worked feverishly to build a berm, sandbag, and do all they could as they saw Salmon Creek rising and the back field getting far too close to the fire hall, but eventually the force of the heavy water broke through the berm and came crashing through the building like whitewater. The cellar immediately flooded, to the CEILING, and the "drop ceiling" DROPPED. THe 1st floor had 2 1/2 feet of water, virtually all property in the building was destroyed.
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Notice the two cars parked in the back parking lot? The water got high enough to completely cover them before it started to dissipate!

For the next few days, we dispatched from the community center, as our radio equipment was all detroyed. Also, there is no power in the building (still) because the electrical panel boxes (MANY) were in the basement, and the entire building shorted when the water came rolling in. A week later, our electrician set up a new, temporary power supply on the 1st floor and ran yellow wires to all critical areas of the building ONLY, and we now have a radio room again. No lounge, no offices. The walls are GONE, as they have been digging away for weeks now tearing out the moldy, flood damaged carpeting and interior walls from the entire firehouse. It's like working in a basement prison sometimes. No one is just hanging around anymore, there's nowhere to sit, and no electricity running to the tv. Lots of new details unfold each day as I begin my workday, since something else has been eliminated or added. You'd actually have to see it to believe it. It was such a beautiful place, now it looks deserted and smells terrible.
I'll take some new photos tonight and show you the updated "look," what with the toilets having no walls and all...heehee! (I use the upstairs potty. Firemen? They don't CARE!)
More later, Kelly has her very first dental appointment today. She's very excited, she will get a ride in the chair, have her teeth "counted," and if she's cool about it, might even get a polishing! ;)