All of the streets in our subdivision were completely flooded. Our street was the deepest - it came up well above my knees in the middle. Our front yard was completely under water. The water flowed through our side yards and into the pond in back. The retention pond itself had already risen about four feet, and had only two or three inches to go before it came in our back door.
It was 6AM on Thursday morning, 21 Aug 2008. Or third day of TS Fay. It had been raining for the last 33 hours, and we already had about 30 inches of rain during that time. As the dawn broke, we had a temporary lull in the storm - but the forecast called for another 8 inches of rain before nightfall. Our garage was several inches deep in water. The water was about 1/8th of an inch from coming in our front door. Our back porch was flooded and the lake had about two inches before it would make its way into our house. On all sides of our house, the water was inches deep. We had both been up for well over thirty hours, working to keep the waters out.
Carly and I decided that it was time to get off the island while the roads were open. Our ever-faithful cousin Katy braved the lashing rains for the drive from Orlando, because our cars were trapped. Carly was amazing - I've never seen someone able to prepare to evacuate so efficiently. I waded across the street to borrow our neighbors kayak, as there was no other way to get our few bags out to the main road, several blocks away, where Katy was going to try to reach. By 10 AM, our house was locked down, our Cecilia was all bundled up and strapped to Papa, and we headed out, pulling the kayak with her baby seat, Pack-n-Play, and a few other necessities.
Right at the entrance to our subdivision, out where they didn't have to get their clothes soaked, a couple of reporters met the kayak and us. The next day, our over-dramatized story was in the paper, with two quarter-page photos. Of course, they got about half the story right (Katy was Carly's sister, my neighbor Ron was me...). Not too shabby! I included the article in the next post.
So we made our way to Katy's, where we spent the day in dryness, recuperating and resting.
Status Report at Katy's - Thurs afternoon
Cecilia Playing at Katy's - Thurs Evening
Cecilia Quiets Down - Thurs Evening
Carly, Cecilia, and I stayed at Katy's for the rest of the day. The next morning (Friday), Katy dropped me off at a rental car company on the way to work, and I began my trek back out to the island to determine how it all turned out.
After my little rink-a-dink rental almost got blown off the road a few times by the gusting winds, I finally made it to our subdivision. I was met by a cop, stopping everyone who was trying to come into our neighborhood, to mitigate the possibility of looting. Then for the fun - driving the rental car through puddles of water that any sensible car owner would never take their cars through. I had my door open as I did so - and the water was quite high enough to pour in - but there was no room to spare. I parked down the street from our house and sloshed up. There were schools of fish swimming down our street, and the street was still just under knee deep in water.
Status Report at Home - Friday morn
I was quite surprised when I got inside - no water! After we had evacuated, the water continued to rise before it crested. The water marks around our house indicated that the water had risen above the level of our front door and the door between our kitchen and garage. The only thing we can figure is that when we left, all of the doors had sealed against the AC seal and kept the water out!
I ventured over to check on my neighbor Ron, who had inches of water throughout his entire home the day before. The whole place was a mess. He and I talked for a bit, worked with his insurance company, and made the executive decision that we needed to gut all the carpet in his house ASAP, before the water wicked any further up his walls. I spent the rest of the day over his place, cutting carpet and padding and hauling it to his front yard. Water was literally pouring out of the pad and carpet as I picked each load up. That was a hard day's work - but I got the carpet all out. Around 7PM, I headed back to Katy's, to spend the night with Katy
The storm drains shooting water into the pond - Fri morn
Ron and Candy's house - formerly Ft Jones - Fri afternoon
Pumping out the water - these pumps ran for three or four days straight before the water was fully gone - Fri afternoon
We all ventured back the following day, Saturday, and found the house smelling like mildew and a baseboard popped off. Considering that black mold can kill, we weren't comfortable having Cecilia there through the night. It just so happened that LtCol John Wagner, my squadron commander, lives down the street and came by. Long story short, my wife is good friends with his wife, and we ended up spending two days at their house. During those two days, I tore apart some of the air conditioning system that had become waterlogged and rebuilt it, and our house was dehumidified by the dehumidifier that we had purchased. Finally, Sunday afternoon, we moved back into our own home, after having been out for five days and four nights...
Of the five houses that border ours, four had to gut all their flooring, and Ron also had to remove the plaster and insulation four feet up all the walls. We were lucky. Our house had sustained damage - but was liveable.
All said and done, we were very well off, considering the plight of our neighbors. We had lost hundreds of dollars of stuff in our garage - including our lawn mower, Matt's weight set, a lot of camping equipment, and two refrigerators - but it was all insured. We also had some substantial damage to the AC air handler, but I was able to find some contractors who sold me the replacement parts I needed, and I was able to fix it on my own.
And finally, it looks like my faithful '98 Mustang, Shotgun aka Shotty, was done in by the flood. She's still in the shop and the adjuster is redoing an estimate, but it looks like she will be totaled. Unfortunately, she's not worth much anymore (her value's all sentimental) so Carly and I may have lost out and have to scrap together cash for another car.
But praise God that our family is safe!
Carly Hale, left, carries her daughter, Cecilia, 9 months, as they evacuate from their home in Sunset Lakes on north Merritt Island due to flooding. She is comforted by her sister, Katy Thomas, who came from Celebration to assist in the evacuation. (Photos by Rik Jesse, FLORIDA TODAY) 
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Our Front Porch - note that the entire front lawn is now flooded - Thurs morn
Flowerbeds - Thurs morn
