Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Review - The Flood pt. 2: The Best Western or the worst?

If you missed the first part, you can jump to it here: PART 1

Most of us stood on the third floor watching the motel go under. A few had stayed in the lobby to see about pricing. They soon returned to announce that the price was firmly set at $70. Most of the people there who had fled, didn't have any money. They'd left before they could even think to grab their purses and wallets. Many didn't have any cash, because they'd just paid for their room across the street.  Further more, the guy at the Best Western informed us that he wouldn't allow more than four to a room, even if it was just sitting out a flood. My brother and I had grabbed cash, but at that rate we couldn't afford to put everyone up. So I'd just like to thank the Best Western for that.

We stayed there awhile and watched. Some people did get a room together, but most were looking at moving on to another motel. My brother at this point told me to watch our stuff while he tried to get the guy to come down on price. This is what he said. In reality he went back out into the flood and began helping people cross a road that was quickly becoming a river. I did film a little more and get off a few more still shots, before my camera died. Like I said yesterday, I can't transfer the video cause I don't have the hardware anymore, but here are the still shots I took from the third floor.


This is a shot of the motel we'd left off in the distance, behind the Wendy's. Because of the slope of the road, the Best Western escaped flooding. Just beyond that truck though, you can see the water already quite high.


This is the side street between the Best Western and the Kroger's. It wasn't covered at all when we walked across just minutes before. Here you can see it already streaming down.


A closer look at the current sweeping across the Kroger's.


A closer shot of the motel. This was on the high side. The water got higher yet, but my camera died after this picture.

When my brother got back, we headed over to a cheaper place. We helped as many as we could get into a few rooms, and took a room ourselves. I was kicking myself at forgetting things already. First and foremost, a dry change of clothes. Flipping on the TV I saw the one and only shot of the area I would see during any of the coverage of the flood. Which is not a knock against other places that got hit hard, it just feels a bit though like the area was passed over.

My brother made a couple trips out to see the level of flooding, nervous about his truck. Here is a short video he shot at the edge of the flood with his phone. He didn't dare go farther.


Later that night the water over the motel did finally recede to a point where he was able to get the truck out. It sputtered madly but he managed to drive it out just in case it flooded again. The room was also drained enough to enter and we found miraculously that some clothes we'd kept in a plastic bin had floated on top of the water. I was quite happy to change into clean dry clothes. Some friends came by later and very sweetly brought us some supplies and washed our clothes for us. The rest of the night we spent watching exhaustedly, the coverage of the flooding throughout the state.


Tomorrow, part 3

15 comments:

  1. Well Best Western staff DICKS okay having said that I am so glad you guys are okay. My heart goes out to you all and your friends and family. This has been so devastating in so many areas, just horrible. Has FEMA or Red Cross been to visit you yet? Let me know if we can help you guys out, k?

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  2. Like Lisa was saying on her blog...this is just awful, and she is right that we didn't see much news coverage about it over here.
    I truly hope that whatever aid should get there actually DOES get there.It makes me feel pretty helpless when I see people going through this while I am safe and dry over here.

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  3. I feel for ya. I have been in a few high-water flood situations in South Texas and it really sucks. After like the third time I actually put a "flood kit" together and threw it in the closet just to be ready. You really do lose your mind and forget to take basic important things when water is chasing you. Hope all is well and getting better.

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  4. TS, Reading this makes me appreciate all the more how upbeat and positive you were when you were still right in the middle of it all.

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  5. We have relatives in the area. You all have been through so much....

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  6. Again, crazzzyyyyyyy. That Best Western guy sounds like a douchebag. Probably because he wasn't the one stranded out in a flood. Anyway, glad you guys evacuated and found somewhere to go and all that. I'm excited to read the rest!

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  7. Man, I feel so bad you had live through an atrocity like that. So sorry.

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  8. Man oh man... what an ordeal. It's amazing how people get greedy when they know they have you by the balls. When we evacuated (unnecessarily) for Rita, we encountered just the opposite, people opened restaurants specifically for the evacuees. We didn't try to get a hotel room though... I think that's where the worst price gouging probably is in any emergency situation. It's hard to believe that people can be like that.

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  9. I never thought I would say this, but thank god for plastic bins..

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  10. Haha, Carl, come to think of it, I never thought I'd say that either.

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  11. Sounds like you guys were really nice to everybody, and most of the regular people sound like they were generally nice as well. That's awesome. Sorry there were jerks thrown into the mix, though, and I don't include them amongst "regular" people. Thanks again for updating us. I hope you and your brother, and really everyone over there, can recover "normal" lives soon.

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  12. That's absolutely crazy! It's really great getting this inside coverage. With hockey playoffs going on, Canada isn't getting too many flood updates, except when the Zambonis flood the ice.

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  13. During a disaster situation like this, where people are stranded - that Best Western dude should have been empathetic and not a greedy son of a beyotch. Makes me so angry. Where is the compassion?

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  14. Best Western sucks. Enough said.

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  15. You and your brother are heroes! I admire the fact that you guys jumped out to help other people!

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