Flood victims set up camp at Hawthorn Park

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Flood victims set up camp at Hawthorn Park

Terre Haute Tribune Star - Terre Haute,IN*

By M. Boyce

The Tribune-Star

http://www.tribstar.com/local/local_story_190225211.html

TERRE HAUTE — Michele Shields hangs her family's laundry on a line

by their pop-up in Hawthorn Park like hundreds of other campers this

summer, an American flag posted in the ground at the entrance to

their site.

But while her husband is stationed in Iraq, Shields and her two

daughters are hardly on vacation.

" We don't mind camping, that's why we bought the pop-up, " the flood

victim said. " But you know, this is a little different. "

The family has been sleeping in the pop-up camper because of damage

to their home from the June 7 flood. Shields and her husband, Larry,

are both members of the 430th Chemical Company, and were among the

first to volunteer June 7 when record-level rainfall brought

floodwaters into homes and businesses throughout the Wabash Valley.

But a month later, much of the initial urgency is gone and the

financial aid is receding like the waters that spawned it, leaving a

gooey mess behind.

And, Shields said, it all stinks.

" With my husband being gone, my goal is to get my kids a stable

home, " she said, noting that her 17-year-old son is currently living

with his father (from a previous relationship).

She said none of the family can return to their home at 11132

Atherton St. until the mold is removed.

Shields and her two daughters have been prescribed Allegra for the

itching, scratching infections she said were brought on by the

growing mold emanating from their crawl space, and her husband

scratched at his uniform all the way to the airport en route to Iraq

as part of another Army unit's attachment.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency granted Shields $3,000 for

home repairs, but she noted that won't even cover new carpet, let

alone the plumbing and wiring that needs replaced.

" The Health Department said this is OK to drink, " she said, holding

up a jar of yellow water run from her bathtub. " We keep trying to

flush it out but nothing's working. "

Finally, desperate for clean air, the family loaded up the pop-up

and headed for the campgrounds of Hawthorn Park.

Applications for assistance through Operation Blessing International

and the National Guard's family programs have been completed, but

the waiting list is long and Shields is juggling it all with work

and kids over a campfire.

Assistance from the American Red Cross has been denied four times,

she said.

Carol s, executive director of the American Red Cross of the

Wabash Valley, acknowledged the struggles of a still unknown number

of people whose homes and possessions were destroyed in the floods.

" I certainly understand their frustrations, " she said. " It's an

extremely emotional time. "

But a month after the floods have receded, the " emergency needs " are

coming to an end, and so is much of the disaster relief money issued

at the onset of such events, she explained.

" There may be some extenuating circumstances, but our role is to

respond to the immediate emergency needs, which we did, " she

said. " At this point it becomes a community challenge. "

s and representatives from a network of area churches and

social service agencies met last week to begin plans for a long-term

recovery process.

But officials she's spoken with said it might be as long as two

years before some families can get back home.

In the meantime, supplies and assistance will be doled out through

appropriate channels, she said, adding that mental health and

emotional distress are two very real issues in the mix.

Shields lauded the support given her by Covenant ative

Ministries as she carried food from the back of her truck.

Shields was answering their phones Tuesday afternoon while staff was

assembling aid packages and helping her fill out aid applications.

The Otter Creek Volunteer Fire Department also has provided her

water from their personal supply as well as cleanup kits, but

Tuesday evening she was planning to cook dinner at her parents'

house because of the recent rains.

" The camp site and firewood are all so wet, " she said, noting that

most of her family's clothing was destroyed in the flood, and they

shower in the campground's bathroom facilities with the rest of the

campers, some of whom themselves are flood victims.

" They need to wake up and realize that we are people and we have

needs, " she said. " I know there are more, " she said of other

families flooded out with nowhere to go, noting that several were

dispersed throughout Hawthorn Park in tents and campers.

In the meantime, the American flag is displayed at the camp site's

entrance, with an additional patriotic display of red, white and

blue lights on the clothes line, on which hang clothes with a mildew

smell.

Boyce can be reached at (812) 231-4253 or

brian.boyce@....