We are Blessed -Tornado, Power Outage & A/C Broken

[LuciluS]

This past Friday:

I knew our State, Arkansas, was going to be hammered by severe weather. At around 2:27 pm, TV said Funnel Cloud racing (70-80mph winds) across Hwy 64 (we live 3 blocks from 64) & will reach our city at 2:31 pm. Immediately no Power.

Linen closed was cleaned out earlier in the day, as only room without an outside wall. Horrific straightline rain & winds. Heard the 'Train a Coming'. DH grabbed our Furkid & we ran to the closet. Could hear 'stuff' flying. Then the calm. Came out of closet to find our home intact. Lost our big tree in our backyard, patio furniture scattered everywhere & some roofing shingles gone.

A/C will not run. Raised windows as the Severe Weather had lowered the temps to 70. See man on roof of house directly behind us. Lots of shingles missing & can see the black paper on her roof. DH must have a cooked meal. I refuse to leave as I knew there was more Severe Weather to come. He brought me a hamburger home.

1 am Sat. next round of storms. Power goes out for good and does not return until 2 pm. Meantime, DH takes our Frozen Meats to a friend's home who has power & buys 6 bags of ice to place other frozen/cold items in Ice chests. Just as he begins, Power is restored.

Carpet is wet in hallway. Home on concrete slab. Drain pipe to A/C is backed up. I'm able to take a clothes hanger to outside drain pipe & unclog it. Attempts to fix A/C unsuccessful using Manual. I've used 6 beach towels in attempt to 'soak up' water on carpet....still wet & I gave up this morning.

DH leaves at 4 pm Sat. to head to MI with a load of paper. By 5 pm, temp is 96 degrees outside. Have ceiling fans, stand up fan & box fan running. Went to bed around 11 pm with windows open & at 4:42 this morning Bam! Another Severe Storm. Shut majority of windows as rain is coming in. Only heavy rain, thunder & lightning.

We are Blessed to have our home intact & no injuries in our subdivision. Both of us realize it will take $$ to fix A/C. Our homeowner's insurance MAY pay for it; however, deductible is $500 & the whole State was hammered by this Weather & probably will be weeks before Adjustor would come to inspect.

My son's business is scheduled for this Wed. to repair our privacy fence as the severe weather has it leaning & planks missing all throughout backyard & double wide gate is ripped off it's hinges. He is calling a buddy today about A/C whose father owned an Heat & Air business until he had severe heart attack. Buddy was an employee. Long story..short. Business closed last year due to his mother not collecting or paying taxes. As I told DH & my son, I would rather pay someone who is probably in need of $$ as we are. DH wanted me to call Sat. for emergency repair of A/C. I told him No! He will be gone all week & I can/will be able to handle the heat until son's buddy is able to fix A/C.

Will probably have to borrow money from my Dad for A/C as temps are to range from 93-98 this week & humidity is high in AR. What's the best way to handle this transaction?

Have Dad write check directly to Individual/Company for repair? I'm about 98% sure it is the Condenser and/or Compressor. Repair will be over $600 and we are filing BK 7 in Sept. Do Not need A/C $ expense for DMI.

Yes, I could deposit Dad's check in our checking account, pay for repair & list $ as a loan. I do not want my Dad listed as a Creditor as he will be 90 yrs. old in Dec., a Worry Wart & will be devastated to know we filed BK.

Help!

Luci

[AngelinaCat]

[AngelinaCat]

On re-reading, I'll add this: you might as well pull the carpet and pad up now and get rid of it. You are not going to save it. We thought we could ours. We also are on a slab and used towels, fans, and high-intensity lights to dry everything out. Or so we thought.

When 'Hub got prostate cancer in 2004--after the hurricanes-- everything we were trying to do on the house stopped while he recuperated. When we started back working on the house about a year later, we pulled the carpet and and were COVERED with black mold spores. Once we got that stuff out and disposed of and the slab thoroughly washed with bleach, we were amazed at how much better we were feeling. We had been living with mold in the house for more than a year.

[LuciluS]

Hi Luci:

But at night it was horrific, because it was too hot to leave windows closed. But we couldn’t have them open because of the mosquitoes, which got in ins spite of screens. We couldn’t sleep, couldn’t cool off and couldn’t keep the mosquitoes off of us. It was very uncomfortable, not to mention unhealthy. So we went down to an auto parts store that had gotten their power back and bought a large truck battery and an engine fan. We put the battery on a stool and the fan in our bedroom window, and hooked the fan to the battery and let it run. The battery lasted most of the night while it kept the air circulating and the mosquitoes off us. In the morning when we started up the generator for the two or three hours to charge the refrigerator, we charged the battery too, and so it would be good for the following night.

I hope that helps. God Bless~~

Cat: O My! New windows & screens put on home last year. Hopefully, no mosquitos will come in our home.

Live in small town of 2,400 pop. DH got home early Fri. am & had to leave out at 4 pm on Sat. afternoon as his load (Truck Driver) delivers in WI at 6 am Mon.

I felt sorry for him as he tried his best to make sure I would be comfortable this week. He wanted to call an A/C company who has 24 hr. service. Knew Service would be quite expensive & no $$ to pay. Told him not to worry, I am a Survivalist even though I am Disabled.

Older generations than me (55) survived without A/C.....I can too!

Will have to call my Son as I'm unable to tear out the carpet. I didn't even think about underneath the Carpet. O Me!
Luci

[kenshirley]

I was born and raised near SF where earthquakes happen frequently. The worst I remember is not near as bad as what people in the areas have with hurricanes and twisters however.
I knew people that I had moved to CA from twister prone areas to get out of them, experienced a very mild quake and moved back where they came from.
I guess not having grown up with them I cannot understand why people want live with them just like they cannot understand why I was never afraid of an earthquake.
Speaking of AC, I have to note that it seemed that not many wanted to live in the Phoenix area until AC became common. Our kids live down there in the heat and go from their homes to the cars with the AC on all the time. Not for me, that's for sure.
Here in the mountains of AZ we don't use the AC very often.

[blankslate]

Luci, I'm so glad you and your husband and furkid made it through this without injury! How terrifying! Good advice from Cat about the carpet. I've lived with mold and it affects your health so badly.

Is there any way that your Dad could pay whoever fixes the A/C directly? Then you wouldn't have to worry about getting him involved in your bk. My Dad helped with a vet bill a few years ago and he paid the vet directly. I was so incredibly grateful for that.

[LuciluS]

Son called me and his friend will be coming tomorrow to check out the A/C. Son will be here Wed. as he was at Church all day (Worship & Praise Minister) & has prior business commitments until then.

I placed a box fan in hallway..to no avail. I'm unable to get down & see where seams are in the carpet. So guess it will have to wait until Wed. Cloudy up until around 5 pm. Sun came out & humidity was 85%. I was a Glowing (ya know, my mom always said women don't sweat - the Glow)

We've been dealt with Medical Maladies after another since 3/05. The #1 reason we are filing BK. Sure don't want mold to cause more health problems.

So, guess I'll have the carpet ripped out until my son sees no sign of discoloration. DH has a friend who ripped out the carpeting in his Den which is also on a Concrete Slab & painted it. Area rugs are easier to clean.

Think I will ask son if he knows how to clean, seal & paint concrete floors. I've never liked carpeting anways. Our home in IN had wood flooring and I loved it!

4:22 am was quite early for me today. Off to take meds and hit the hay.

Thanks for those who replied.

Luci

[AngelinaCat]

You really need to have all carpet and padding pulled out, not just until Son sees lack of discoloration.

You need to have everything pulled out including carpeting and drywall until you have a good ‘clean’ area of one foot on all sides. THEN cut out another foot on all sides to be on the safe side, when cleaning up your house/home/workshop.

I am a 14 year member of the Texas Tall Ship ELISSA Crew, and the standard there for the cleanup after Hurricane Ike, was and is: rip out all flooring, no matter what, and the drywall, sheetrock, paneling, etc. is cut and disposed of , from TWO FEET UP from the high water line. The floor and remaining walls, were cleaned thoroughly with a bleach solution.

That was for the Museum building. The ship, being a ship and able to float, fared much better than the onshore workshop, museum and gift shop.

[jb300]

I am sorry to hear about this. Yes, I do flooring for a living, get carpet and pad up. If you have insurance it will cover it most likely. Wet pad and carpet will mold fast. I am glad you are safe.

[LuciluS]

O Praise The Lord! It was 88 degrees and felt like 97 said the weather channel. Son's friend fixed the A/C! Fuse blown, drain pipe plugged up (he put a T-bone on it & a plug where DH can put 1/2 cups of bleach & water down it once a year) & 2 lbs. of Freon.

He said you want to pay the company or me? I said I want to pay you. He said; write me a check for $100.00! I started crying. I left the check blank.

I did call my insurance agent this morning. He said they are swamped with calls. I gave him info & he said he wouldn't send it in, until I called him back.

There is a New Technology on a slab foundation of just painting it. Going to have son rip out the carpet in the hallway on Wed. & have him look into the new 'Painting'...for all I know, he may have done this through his company already.

Now time for nap LOL!

Luci

[coolgurka]

Luci, so sorry to hear about the damage done and am so glad you and hub are not hurt. As long as people or animals(furkid) are ok, physical stuff can be replaced(though in our situations, those of us on this site, it means more money and effort when times are already tough)

I second the motion of getting rid of carpet. 1998 I had a pipe leak in the home(apt) i was living in. Even though they put huge blowers to dry the carpets, mold got in and a few yrs later, I had a really bad bout of flu like sickness and could hardly get up to go to work,(for weeks) ENT and allergist finally ran a scope thru my nose and found out that I had a lesion ,crusted with plaque like substance ,on left vocal chord. They removed it for a biopsy and it was pre cancerous cells. It wasn't carcinoma thank god! I have been fine since, but the cause? Suspected mold and I think it came from the wet carpet! After that, I dont have carpets anymore. Allergists say it is the worst thing in the house for allergy sufferers!!

All the best with the cleaning up after the aftermath!!Take care!