Drying Out And Cleaning Up

The clean up continues in Broken Arrow. Homeowners hit by Thursday's early morning flash flooding are still uncovering damage, some more than they expected. <br/><br/>News on 6 reporter Heather Lewin

Friday, May 5th 2006, 9:39 am

By: News On 6

The clean up continues in Broken Arrow. Homeowners hit by Thursday's early morning flash flooding are still uncovering damage, some more than they expected.

News on 6 reporter Heather Lewin explains how folks without flood insurance are fixing it themselves.

Brian Dollar and most of his neighbors spent all day Thursday trying to get rid of the water and ruined carpet. Now he is assessing the damage. Dollar uncovers the real problem. â€œInsulation coming out just wet as can be." It means the aftermath of 5 inches of sudden rain is going to cost him a boatload of money. "I'm gonna have to cut up about a foot high and take the insulation out and go back with new. Pretty surprised, I thought it was just gonna be minor, but once I got into it and started pulling the baseboards off, it's starting to look like it's gonna be more work."

Dollar had hoped the damage was just muddy carpeting, but now he's found water soaked up into the walls, making this a much bigger job. And with no flood insurance, that means doing it yourself.

Dollar is not alone. Lowes' store manager Keith Kunze: "It's been a lot more of the cleanup, people needing squeegees, shop vacs, stuff like that to clean up the mess that was made. I would imagine that we'll probably see a lot of items to replace their flooring with."

From the looks of the neighborhood, new carpeting is about to be a hot commodity in Broken Arrow.

Because they bought homes in an area that traditionally doesn't flood, none of the residents the News on 6 talked with, had flood insurance. For those doing their own repairs like Dollar, it means missing work to work at home. "Vacation. I'm spending my two weeks vacation doing this."

Local insurance agents say flood insurance is available everywhere, not just in flood-prone areas. Policies are offered and regulated by the government. Your insurance agent can help you get one, but it's up to the customer whether to buy it.