“When my brother told me the water was rising, I put my important papers and toilet paper in plastic bags. I don’t know why I grabbed the toilet paper. The dogs were on the ottoman and I watched me get the harness. They started wagging their tails because they thought we were going for a walk. One jumped down, felt the water and jumped back up. I knew they were going to be a problem. I grabbed my backpack, but forgot my purse and the important papers. As I put the puppies in the bucket, the dog food spilled and there is now dog food all over my house and it is coming out of the walls. My best friend’s husband helped me float the puppies out on in the bucket. He cut his foot and went down and the puppies went down too. We are all in the water. Puppies got back up and in the bucket and we made it out to her house. At midnight that night we were evacuated again. It took 18 hours for the water to make it from my house to her house.”

“I live on the river and when it was at 39 feet, I barely got out. I kept calling my sister to come get my cat. While we were talking about my house she looked out her back door and saw it coming. That is when the panic started. I had to find my mom because she lives close by and her house was about to flood too.”

“This place has never flooded. When I was at my best friend’s house, the water came to her too and we had to convince her husband to leave. He is a very smart man and he could not understand that a flood was coming. After the second evacuation, people I didn’t know took in me and my mom and my two dogs for the night even though they weren’t dog people. I don’t know what is going to happen next. Contents insurance is about to be a big issue here. Most likely all of this stuff you see is not insured by the streets is not insured.nI refinanced my house and they made me get flood insurance. I am thankful for that.”

“I am staying with friends. I lost the house, but still have the restaurant, Tiger Paw Daiquiris and Grill, that was a little island and it is ok.”

“There are moments when you come across something you lost that chokes you up. I couldn’t save anything from my kids’ childhood that they could show their own kids one day. I saved a few pictures, but most of the art and drawings are gone. When I saw the pictures of the water up to the roof and I had to keep reminding myself that I have my family, my puppies and my toilet paper. Adjusters come next week and I don’t know what to expect. The flood got my car with my brother’s important things that I was supposed to save.”

“We had three households in our family that lost everything–houses furniture, washers, dryers, refrigerators and cars. Everyone walked out with just the clothes on their backs. We are going to need help.”

“My daughter lives in California and her family over there set up a GoFundme account for us just so we can get a mattress to put on the floor. I was told I have to gut my house. I at least have a roof and walls. My brother doesn’t. I am staying with my dad until I become the fish he wants to throw out.”

(As she tells about the GoFundMe account, she looks it up and sees a new donation. She starts to cry).

“A woman who I have never met just gave $500 to me and my family. We both play a Zombie game online and connected through that. I cannot imagine that. It is overwhelming to ask anyone for help. I do things on my own or with my family’s help. I have been a single parent since my son was one-year-old and he is now 25. I raised my kids by myself. This is the first time I have ever asked for help. How can you thank someone for that? I can’t repay people enough for hauling stuff out, for getting nasty in this stuff. They put their own health at risk to help me. My brother got a spider bite, thank goodness it was my just him. I don’t feel bad about that.

“Family is all I have left. And my puppies. And toilet paper.”

Here is the link to the GoFundMe:

https://www.gofundme.com/2jqatugc

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Our Southern Souls has email addresses for the people in each one of these stories. If you want to help or give gift cards, we can contact them and help make that happen.