Let the "fun" begin...

Today is my first day of having the opportunity to be online and to post an update. What day is it anyway? I think this is day 5 of "Operation Recovery" as I have called it. Well, only in my head.

As I write this post today, I find it a bit theraputic to the processes that we have been going through. Life as we new it is no longer. Our home as we new it, well, is much the same. I have not had the chance to download pictures, but will do so over the weekend at some time. Here is the latest chronological update of our events since our return on Monday evening.

9/15-Monday nite: After arriving back from College Station, Debra and I were left with assessing the damage. On the way back I managed to acquire a flat tire, so my time and daylight were dedicated to unloading my car to get to the necessary tools and flashlights to put on the spare tire. Debra began removing the obvious wet clothes, etc. that had not survived the surge.

We stayed the night at Stephaine's house, a HOBY volunteer who is a dear friend of mine. We slept as well as we could, and began the mental processing of "what next?".

9/16-Tuesday: Around 8:30am we arrived at our home to begin the process of cleaning out what needed to be removed. From UHCL were Nichole, and John and Evy who helped us get started. We began by getting items out of our garage as to use it as storage facility. Once the garage was cleared, we hosed it down and swept out all the mud and muck that had made it in as a result of the surge.

After that, the removal of carpet was the next move. Also present by this time were Stephanie and Rob, who made the process move faster than had we been there by ourselves. Between all of those present, we managed to get almost all the carpet out and to the curb for pick up at a later date. That was about all we were able to manage in the first full day of the process.

We have been held up at CASA de Benz, a fellow co-worker and HOBY volunteer whom opened his home to us, along with his wife Tina. David and Tina, THANK YOU!

9/17- Wednesday: On day two we had help once again, but now it was hard to figure out what to do? All of the help and support we have been provided has been wonderful. The hard part, to face, has been what to do next? There is so much to be done it's not easy to plan the next step. Most of the things to be done at this time have needed the attention of Debra and myself. The sorting, pitching and organizing type of work.

FEMA showed up on this day to do the inspection for support. This took about 2 hours. At the end David, the FEMA inspector left by stating, "good luck...I hope this all works out for you and that FEMA accepts your claim since you have flood insurance". Great way to end a visit, eh?

This was also the first night that power was restored to our home. As a result of power, and rumors of looting, I chose to sleep in the garage. Our AC unit is not working, but the window unit in our garage is. So, there I was on a mattress, with AC and my barely used softball bat for protection! GO ME!

9/18-Thursday: The slow process has continued. I, myself, have been left with the scratching of my head. Day to day routines are lost and left with creating plans for something that you have never imagined nor experienced before. I began cutting plywood, initially for windows, to use as a temp floor in the rafters of our garage for storage. I managed to get about 5 put up. Now the search continued for boxes and containers to store our salvageable items in.

On our third full day of "Operation Recovery", we did more of the same. However, our focus switched from clean up to housing. We were approved for 1 month of FEMA housing at a participating hotel/motel. Good news is there is a local La Quinta down the road. Bad news is, he has no power. No power, no residence. OH, did I mention, this is a reimbursement program? We will have to wait to see what FEMA does with our application post inspection.

OH....PODS= Points of Distribution: We have been blessed with water, ice, and MRE's for a few days. I am sure this will go old fast, and it has, but it's a blessing nonetheless.

Garrett slept with me in the garage on this night, while Debra, Audra and Nolan returned to the Benz residence for the night.

9/19-Friday: Today is the day where my emotions have gotten the best of me. The range of despair in our area is extreme. Many have no damage at all and are continuing life as though nothing at all happened. While many others, like us, are dealing with some level of devastation from the storm. It's hard to watch folks "recreating", walking their dogs, riding their motorcycles, etc., when we are unsure of what tomorrow holds.

Best Buy: Let's just say they do a TERRIBLE job of growing leaders. As a 5 year employee, both full and part time, I had asked for a favor under our circumstances. Best Buy has a plethora of storage totes used for product delivery. They have so many, that on a regular basis they have to ship them back to the distribution center to cut down on the "on hand count". I had asked the current GM if I could borrow a dozen or two to help preserve the belongings we were able to save and his response was an "easy" no. "I would be setting a precedent" was the best he could muster up for me. My request was honest, sincere, and real. His was nothing short of, "I don't care". To make matters worse, I asked for boxes since Friday is a truck night, to only learn that yes I could get them but only if I came back tonight. Last time I ask for their support. Maybe Best Buy HR needs a call....maybe I just need to look the man in the eye and share my thoughts...maybe all of the above.

FEMA update: I am becoming a believer that being responsible does not pay. Due to the fact that we have flood insurance, our adjuster arrives Sunday, we were deined any home support from FEMA. We were also denied any misc. costs associated with home recovery as it was determined that our dwelling was liveable. Yet, we were approved for 1 month of rental support and it was already deposited electronically to our account. Does this make sense to any of you? It doesn't to me. But I need to be in a better mind frame to address this later. ARGH! Now I know why folks complained about FEMA after Katrina and Rita three years ago.

Today I am doing laundry at the Benz residence, calling on our bills, and thinking about the next few days and what needs to happen. Caron Park from our church and day care has Nolan and Audra today which is a blessing beyond belief. We are very fortunate to have such wonderful support at this time.

I have reached my limit of typing at this stage, but needed to share. I am staying on top of emails as best as possible and you can follow up with me at rklinger@mtran.com.

Thanks to all who have supported us and who have sent well wishes our way. Until my next post!

Let the clean up begin...

Today, we made it back to Seabrook and the Clear Lake area. We made it to the house and Debra and I went through the house. This was Debra's first walk through. All in all, we both are very grateful and feel we fared well, especially considering many in our region lost everything.

We are very fortunate that we have had so many offers of a places to stay. It's very heart warming and refreshing to know who your friends are. We are truly blessed. For the meantime, our host for this evening is Stephanie. She was gracious to open her home to us for tonight. Tomorrow another family of 5 arrives and we will move on to Hotel Benz, in this same area. God is good and we are fortunate to have so many folks looking out for us.

The process from here is still very unclear. Tomorrow I will wake up early and head to the local POD, Point of Distribution. POD's have been set up all over the greater Houston and Galveston area. The PODS are distributing bottled water and ice. Since all of the stores have yet to be replenished, we will take advantage of the support.

After my early am POD visit, I will go back to the house and take additional pictures for insurance purposes. We will then ready our garage for storage, and possible living quarters once the electricity comes back on and the work and repairs to our home begins.

In the mean time if you want to contact us, email is best to rklinger@mtran.com. I am able to get messages on my phone. Data communications are much better here than voice at this time.

Happy trails....pass the broom, watered down bleach, and saw!

And the journey home begins...

It's a Monday, and boy howdy do we know it. Debra and I are currenlty assessing the best plan of action as it relates to getting to our home and to beginning the process of getting back on our feet.

For anyone reading this, or who is able, that was impacted by the storm I strongly encourage you to get on online as soon as possible to register with FEMA. www.fema.gov. The fun times ahead are centered on the "balancing act" between insurance providers, flood and home, as well as FEMA support. Fortunately I have taken all the actions needed and am in all systems with claim requests and applicatoins processed.

What to do and where to go?

Before I go any further on us, I must give a great shout out to Jeff and Stefanie Stefancic for being so great to the Klinger family. They have been wonderful. For those who do not know, my daugther Audra turned 4 this past week. We had planned a party for the 13th, the day that IKE hit our region. Well, Jeff, Stefanie, Nick Zuniga and his wife Stephanie cooridanted a birthday party for Audra yesterday, September 14th. Now this was not just a party, but a PRINCESS party, full with princess cake, hat, and stickers! On top of that, they also invited all of the families with kiddos to celebrate the party with Audra. What a heart warming time. One that I will be forever grateful for.

Thank you Jeff, Stefanie, Nick and Stephanie for planning a wonderful party for Audra!

My next steps are to get ready and work my way back to our home for clean up. I will work towards an update once I am able.

Again, thank you all for your prayers and supportive emails. They lift our spirits and let us know we are not alone in this expereince.

More from me later.....

One day at a time

I have created this blog site, initially, to help as a supportive tool to my business. Hence the name, Project Unleashed. However, due to the impact that Hurricane Ike has had on our family, I will use it to update family and friends on our journey and status.

As of September 11th, we had evacuated our home in Seabrook, Texas in advance to Hurricane Ike's arrival to the greater Houston-Galveston area. We were fortunate to get Debra and the kids out early so that they did not have to sit in grid lock traffic. We were very lucky to have the support of Jeff and Stephanie Stefancic, who have allowed us to hold up residence in their home as we awaited the faith of ours from Ikes landfall and impact.

Yesterday, September 13th, I managed to make my way back to Seabrook to get a glimpse of the impact of Ike on our home and town. All forecasters were predicting surge from the storm to be in the area of 15-20 or so feet. We did get water in our home, about 1-2.5 feet, and have a tone of limbs and leaves down. From the initial reports and predictions, we faired well.

The next stage of our game plan is to get in touch with all of the necessary organiztaions, insurance, FEMA, and both UHCL and CCISD (our employers), to see where we are to go next. We will not be returning to our home in the immediate future as there is no power, and due to the damage done to our home. Seabrook offiicals are requesting that residents not return to the area for another 48 hours.

I will continue to post messages to this blog as to keep our family and friends updated on our journey. Thank you in advance for your prayers and support.