Residents Get A Closer Look At Flood Damage

Thursday, July 5th 2007, 5:00 pm

By: News On 6

It's a waiting game in Miami as the floodwaters slowly start to recede. Some residents began to filter back into their neighborhoods to assess the damage on Thursday. The News On 6â€™s Steve Berg spent the day there, he reports officials say there has been no looting, but the neighborhoods near the river have been essentially abandoned, and there is a lot of work ahead.

After bullying the neighborhood for the past two days, the waters are slowly backing down. Ray Landrum and his wife got their first look inside their house since they evacuated Monday.

"Can't say we're happy, but we're as pleased as we can be with the circumstances for us," flood victim Ray Landrum said.

Landrum had about six inches or water in the house and knows it could have been worse.

"We've got our public works people out with our solid waste folks to pick up debris and clean streets so folks can get back in and do whatever they need to do," said Emergency Management Director Gary Brooks.

Brooks says he understands people are eager to get their lives back to normal, but he says it could be several days or more before they can restore all the services. He says there's not much they can do until the water goes away.

"Some of our utility workers had to go out and pull meters because the flooding with a live meter is problematic," Brooks said.

There will be a tremendous amount of work ahead. Landrum says he'll probably start pulling up carpet on Friday.

"I just happened to have this week scheduled off for vacation," Landrum said.

And it will be expensive. Many people do not have insurance. Landrum is not sure what his coverage is, and heâ€™s having to pay to stay in a hotel.

"Whatever it is is what we'll have to do," he said.

"I'm sure we're going to get some assistance,â€ said Brooks. â€œI'm just not sure what it's going to be at this point."

Officials say only a few dozen people chose to stay at the public shelters. Most opted to stay with friends and family or, as in Mr. Landrum's case, pay to say in a hotel.

Watch the video: Miami Residents Check Flood Damage

For more flooding information, check out our STORM ZONE web page.