from one side of the west side...
not likely to follow the format of previous entries, there have been a series of events that have created a virtual cascade over the past few days. the first in the series of events happened a few days ago when there was some kind of tremendous windstorm that passed through the cincinnati area that knocked down numerous trees and created a small version of a disaster area. one micro-focus of the "mini-disaster" was the area immediately surrounding my parents home; in other words their yard...
with severe weather moving through the area, the local alarms sounded and my mother awoke to their sound deciding to head towards the basement. before she went down she mentioned something to my father and left the master bedroom to head down the stairs towards the first floor and then the basement. shortly after opening the door, there was an apparent pause, and then she said, "um, i think we have a little problem." the brief phrase was an uncharacteristic understatement for what was really a rather large problem with a series of little problems.
the "breeze" that came through tore two trees in half: one horizontally, the top half of which was thrown into the roof and wall of the house only to come to rest on top of the hot-tub enclosure and hot-tub; and the other vertically, the split missing the gazebo they have near the water feature and small pond but not missing the neighbors' pool. without need to elaborate further, the pool will need a little help...
at this point the house has also seen better days, likely even when the house frame was the only thing standing. with the initial impact to the house, a large portion of the roof (about a quarter) was destroyed leaving a gaping hole for the continuous rain water to work its way through the house. the continued impact smashed windows and walls, creating a buckling of the dining room wall where part of the frame is now broken and visible to those both inside and out. needless to say their is going to be a need for some construction in the near future, especially because the "tarp" that was placed over the hole in the roof was just left to lay over the exposed beems of the roof, so that as the rain water collected it was able to seep through and make its way into the house.
so with the continued wet weather, they have had an eternal fight one their hands to empty the flood-water from the basement while emptying a few of the upstairs rooms of all possessions since they are likely to collapse at some point in the near future. here are a few of the photos my father took of the aftermath.
...to the other:
speaking of flood waters, my brother and his wife had a problem (i think last fall) where the sewage under their house did not move through their property well, and went through the path of least resistance. this means simply having to defy gravity and surge through the drain in their garage. after this last "event" they created a list of all their possessions that were damaged by the cincinnati sewage water (since they are prohibited from keeping anything as the microbes of feces can be "harmful") and are then given a reimbursement from each that really only reaches garage sale prices (try to replace really nice musical equipment, computers, etc. on a garage sale budget, and then re-finish your basement).
the first production from the cincinnati metropolitan sewage district was not enough, so when the "authorities" thought they had solved the problem; they did not. this time, after having been told the problem was fixed, they moved their "new" possessions into the basement as well as some others since the office had to be moved and then the cincinnati msd decided to come out with the sequel. the video below is what they came home to find.
you can see there is little doubt that they are not responsible for a little back-up in their plumbing... also, i cannot think of much you can really do at that point to salvage the situation.
across the street
not to be left out (but really hoping to be left out of the fray) my sister began to notice some water coming through the ceiling. as of publication there was still no return from the adjustor to get the problem solved before it becomes a much larger issue. i hope that at no point there are neither photos nor videos to add to the entry.
other than the occasional indirect commentary, no more will be added here...
additional photos however, will be added. here is a link to more photos from my sister of the home destruction as the damage countinues to mount:
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