Colorado Flood Volunteering...

Spent a portion of the day getting a greater sense of the level of destruction to homes caused by the flooding here in Boulder County. Any small creek seemed to have jumped its banks, something that is likely ephemeral or a trickle, rose so high as to flood fields and in this case inundate a garden level basement with mud to fill it nearly to its 8-foot high ceiling.

I volunteered with an old friend, Matt Samet, and we helped a dozen or more natty dressed volunteers in spiffy hazmat style suits to slog bins of mud and water mixed with drywall, carpet, molding, wine cellar components back into the light to be re-purposed or hauled away as trash. It helped give me some perspective as to the level of destruction suffered by nearly 20,000 homes in the region. Matt had damage to his home as well, the damage far exceeding his insurance deductible. I was impressed to see him out helping others as well while still dealing with his own serious homeowner headaches.

On the ridge in Lafeyette my place merely had our water shut off for five days because of a damaged pumphouse but no flooding. An incredibly minor inconvenience given the scope I had witnessed in Longmont yesterday. And that was minor on the scale of intensity suffered by so many throughout the region. Many had no flood insurance and claims to FEMA will be a challenge for some for sure.

We volunteered for a four hour shift with Convoy of Hope, an international non-profit that is faith based. But there are many groups/orgs helping out. I hope to jump in with another group soon as my work schedule allows. I encourage anyone who has a half a day to grab a friend or three and do the same. There is an incredible amount of work out there to do still... Go to this website for more info and to sign up to volunteer... http://helpcoloradonow.org/