Residents will face a costly post-flood cleanup

UPDATED 1/11/17 6:15 PM: The Veterans Transition Center in Marina faced flooding due to the storm.

Flood water from a nearby reservoir rushed into their basement this weekend, during the first round of the storm system. That basement is the area where many of their donated items are stored. We spoke to the center and the company repairing the damage to find out just how much a visit from mother nature can cost.

Furniture, bicycles and electronics donated by the community, are all at risk of being permanently damaged. Saturday’s storm sent water flooding into the basement of The Veterans Transition Center.

The VTC did their best to prepare ahead of the storm, placing sandbags in front of the building and in front of this ramp but still water came over them and went into the basement, damaging those donated supplies. Jack Murphy, the center’s deputy executive director said the water that breached the sandbags was about 18 inches high and flooded the entire basement between two to three inches. Now that the damage has been done, the center is working with Property Restoration services to fix it. The company says it isn’t charging for the equipment used to dry out the basement. They do say homeowners and businesses can expect to pay anywhere from one thousand to hundreds of thousands of dollars. You also need to know what your insurance covers. “Typically flood groundwater types of scenarios aren’t always covered by insurance” said Nicole Petitt with Property Management Services. “And if they’re not then it’s up to the homeowner or property owner to take care of those financial obligations to get the property back it’s not something people plan for or necessarily think will happen to them.” Meanwhile Property Restoration Services along with the veterans who benefit from the center are at work fixing the damage caused by the storm. “At the end of the day, this building’s going to be solid dry and warm” Murphy said. “It’s going to enable us to keep veterans that are homeless or are at risk of being homeless solid dry and warm as well.”

PREVIOUS STORY: After the initial shock of seeing your home fill with flood water comes the long and costly process of cleanup and repair.

Today, KION reporter Zach Fuentes was on hand as crews worked to clean up the mess left behind by water runoff that flooded the basement of the Veteran’s Transition Center in Marina last Saturday.

Nicole Petitt from Property Restoration Services says cleanup operations can range in cost from a thousand to hundreds of thousands of dollars, and insurance doesn’t always cover the cost.

Tonight, Zach shows us what flood victims will be facing in the days and weeks ahead. Look for his story tonight at 6:00 p.m. on KION 5/46,

21:27:00 – nicole petitt, property restoration services