Flood, Flood!!!

What a Morning!!! I was up this morning at 6am to go for my morning walk/jog when Ben heard me upstairs and came up peeking over the gate to tell me there was water in his room! I knew exactly where the water was coming from, because as I was getting up this morning the thought occurred to me that I didn't recall turning the water off the vegetable garden last night. I was actually trying to hurry and get dressed to go turn it off when he came up.

I, of course, first went out to turn the water off, then down to see how bad. It was bad!! It had come through the window down the wall and into the carpet 3/4 of the way across the room. I went into Beth's room which is next door and it was full of water as well. I had to go up and get Doug out of bed. We went out to check the garden. The window wells were full of water up past the windows. So we had to get buckets down there and pull the water out as much as fast as we could. Then we had to empty the rooms. We got the kids up to help, because their rooms weren't that clean. Especially Ben and Stevens room. So, now my living room is once again full of stuff. We even had to put it in Shawn's old room, too!

I tried to call the insurance company to determine whether I needed to make a claim or not. My agent's office wasn't open yet, and the claims department didn't know what my policy actually covers. So I decided we were over our heads in clean up, I called a place out here in Centerville, close to us and they quoted full extraction and restoration anywhere from $3,000 to $5,000. I thought I better wait until I talked to my agent about what they will cover. After we had the rooms emptied, I went back to the phone book, said a little prayer and called the second place. I felt so much better just talking to this guy, Alan. He had a calming effect on me and explained the process. He said probably between $500 to $1,000. I went ahead and told him to come. Very nice man. They extracted the water, sprayed mildewcide,and put air dryers under and over the carpet, as well as dehumidifiers in each room to completely dry the carpet, pad and concrete underneath. We also had extension cords running all over as well as tubing from the dehumidifiers running into the bathroom sink and shower. He said they probably wouldn't have to replace the carpet or pad. The girls took right to Alan, and he took to them. Here he is doing his paper work at my table with both of them of his lap!

On Monday they will come back and check the walls. If they are still wet, they have to go into them and find out why and get them dry. So that's where we are for the weekend.

I got a hold of my insurance agent, he said they would cover it and don't worry about it. I just need to call and make the claim.

No Wii, DDR or movies down there for at least a week, because the room is full of their stuff. What are we going to do????

Oh, I read the paper on FAQ that Alan left me, it says don't say"I have a flood." That implies the water came from a river, stream or outside source. If it's from inside your home then you have suffered "water damage". Well, it did come from an outside source, So, I have had a Flood!!! But I guess because it was an accident, my agent said they would cover it anyway!!

I feel like such an idiot for forgetting to turn the water off. I guess I can try to look on the bright side...I wanted to deep clean those room this summer. Now that they're empty, we might as well paint and fix the walls like we wanted to. Not exactly how I wanted to go about it, but if I don't want to cry about it, I really have to find a silver lining!!