<p>School’s responsibility? I am trying to wrap my head around that one. Imagine anyone who parked on a public street and got water damage, or had stuff stolen from the car, who should be responsible?</p>
<p>I think that ou park at your own risk.</p>
<p>soozie … you PM box is full … will send you a PM another day. Just want to wish you and your neighbors kind thoughts while your town recovers.</p>
<p>Snowflake, you can click on my member name and then pick “send email”…try that.</p>
<p>ebeee…sorry for your parents as power outages are much more difficult for elderly folks. </p>
<p>I also saw the footage of the covered bridge being swept away and it was heartbreaking. I go through a covered bridge in my village as well to get anywhere from my house. I know it is still standing but it is closed and the water went up on it during the flooding. In fact, I learned of that from my kid in CA who saw photos of it on FB and called me as it was shocking to see and I had no idea as I am not in the village and really cut off from what was happening. Our villages in my community were flooded badly and many roads are out and we don’t have many roads in the first place. Many homes, businesses, farms, etc. affected. I will go out tomorrow for the first time.</p>
<p>Sooze I hope it isn’t too bad…this on top of last winter will be hard on many. I know my brother took in extra animals last winter when several of his neighbors had barns collapse from snow weight.</p>
<p>I don’t know how they could have prevented the flooding. I think it was a creek from a ways behind the townhouses that overflowed. Son heard that some kind of levy or something also let go. I think it was just a freak thing. It happened very quickly. Son went out for breakfast and everything was fine. When he came back from breakfast everything was fine. About 20 minutes later, someone looked out the window and said that it looked like a river was flowing outside. He and his housemates ran outside and realized the parking lot near his dorm (they’re assigned to park in a specific lot when they register for their parking permit) looked like a body of water. Kids were out there trying to move their cars. There was so much water covering his car that moving it was impossible. One of his housemate’s car was also too submerged to move. One car actually lifted up in the water and was moved parallel to where it had been originally parked.</p>
<p>I wish I could link the pictures, but they’re on my Facebook page and I want to keep a bit of anonymity on CC. The nice thing about being 50 (remember the thread about the positives of being 50 years old?) is that I really don’t get worried or mad at things that are beyond my control. Crap happens sometimes in life, but you deal with it and move on.</p>
<p>I was amazed how quickly our car insurance company has moved on the case. We called them on Sunday to tell them about the flash flood and car damage. Someone from the company arrived around 9:00am on Monday to evaluate the car. He said that the company will probably declare it a total loss. Son was upset when it first happened, but came to the same conclusion we did. It’s nobody’s fault. It’s just something that happened. This is why we have insurance–LOL.</p>
<p>He did say that one father was so upset about his daughter’s car that he was going to sue the school if they didn’t pay to cover the loss of her car. Hopefully, he has since calmed down a bit.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.marist.edu/about/memorandums/irene.html[/url]”>http://www.marist.edu/about/memorandums/irene.html</a>
^here’s their update on flood damage to the campus</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>How did I know this was going to come up?</p>
<p>^I know, right? I’m sure the Dad was very mad at the moment and felt the need to place blame. Perhaps he was just venting when he made the comment.</p>
<p>I don’t get this “sue the school” stuff. It was a natural disaster. Flooding from a hurricane happens. The school (or anybody) can’t prevent it. </p>
<p>NYsmile’s family dealt with it appropriately. They called their insurance. Also, I agree with nysmile that while the car loss is upsetting, crap happens and one can deal with that and it is a material thing (typically insured) and no loss or injury to life. More of a hassle. But a very lucky outcome in the scheme of things.</p>
<p>We had 2 cars damaged with a flash flood about 4 years ago. Wasn’t even in a hurricane. One the insurance considered a complete loss, the other they repaired. I have no clue how a college could be held responsible for a kid’s car being flooded. Stuff happens and nysmile, you have handled it well. Sorry about your son’s car.</p>
<p>For anyone dealing with some water, I found this coupon for Rug Doctor: [Rug</a> Doctor Store Locator - Find Rug Doctor Rental Locations](<a href=“http://rent.rugdoctor.com/map/map.html]Rug”>http://rent.rugdoctor.com/map/map.html)</p>
<p>We dropped our freshman son off at his college in Burlington, VT Friday morning. At that time, the path of the hurricane was not headed towards Vermont, as far as we knew. Slightly tearful goodbye. Husband and I headed up to Montreal for a two night vacation - it’s about a 90 minute drive from Burlington. Right before we get out of the states, we check in with our oldest son who was holding down the fort in PA, and taking care of our dog. This son tells us to put our phones on airplane mode since otherwise we would be charged for roaming fees. We do.</p>
<p>We had a wonderful time in Canada and left Sunday morning. We called home and found that all heck broke out overnight and that our basement flooded and the power went out. We talked to college son very briefly (cell service was spotty) and he said he was “fine.” No mention at all of rain/flooding/destruction except to ask for the location of his raincoat. We had it! We got home around dinner time on Sunday and spent that evening and all of yesterday moving things and sucking out the water. It really wasn’t until last night when we got on-line that we realized how badly Vermont was hit. We still haven’t had a real conversation with College son but I know they had classes yesterday so I’m assuming his college, on the hill, is fine. Our daughter, in grad school in Nashville, forgot that we were going to Canada and got quite worried when she tried to call and both our cell phones were off.</p>
<p>Whoohoo! The insurance company called early this morning and officially declared the car totalled. They are going to call our son and arrange to pick up the car at the college. Once they receive the signed title of the car, they will mail out the check for the claim. We’re very happy with the amount they agreed upon. Tomorrow we will go used car shopping and find a solid and safe replacement vehicle. </p>
<p>Boy, this insurance company was fast!!</p>
<p>Keeping all of you in my prayers as you deal with the aftermath.</p>
<p>Word of advice from a Katrina survivor.</p>
<p>Apply for FEMA benefits and TANF, temporary aid for needy families.</p>
<p>I am a very proud person and never thought I would do this, but as we were displaced, without income, for a few months, I applied for this very temporary aid. The 2K from FEMA helped pay for the apartment we lived in for four months, and the TANF food stamps fed us during that time. We had been through hard times before, and were up for the challenge.</p>
<p>As I work in the legal field, I am still dealing with cases of people suing insurance companies, the Army Corps, and everybody they can think of, still trying to collect for damages. While some of them are well deserved, I have to bite my tongue very often when I listen to people who got over 300K from FEMA, insurance, paid off their houses and cars, bought new houses and cars, cash paid for, and are still whining about wanting more. They happened to live in the right zip code, so they got a windfall. Those of us who still suffered with loss of power, livelihood, and our way of life, used up our savings to get our feet back under us and carry on. Those who relied on the handouts are still holding out their hands and forgot that they actually supported themselves before the storm.</p>
<p>Okay. Enough soapbox.</p>
<p>Word of advice. After you get these temporary benefits, DO FOR YOURSELF! Don’t expect Mr. Government and Mr. Lawyer, and EVEN MR. CHURCH VOLUNTEER, to ride in on his white steed and make everything right. While it is wonderful that there is help there to be gotten, in the end, you have to get on with your life, and becoming dependent on others will only lead to depression and stagnancy.</p>
<p>We celebrated Katrina six year anniversary yesterday, and you still drive around New Orleans and see areas that are still untouched since the storm.</p>
<p>Don’t let your community become like ours!</p>
<p>kathiep - I am assuming since you dropped your son off on Friday, that they had class on Monday, and that they are on a hill; that you son like mine is a freshman at Champlain. Cell service is down and we have not spoken since Friday, but we have been able to google chat so I know he is fine.</p>
<p>UVM and Champlain college parents, this area was not as badly hit as what you see in the news. Some minor power outages and some trees down, but the flooding is limited to areas near the Winooski river, mostly Richmond, VT, in this county. Sorry to hear about the flooded houses, drowned cars, etc. Glad to hear very little new news on personal injury. On Twitter, there is information on how to donate to Vermont Food Bank and also how to find areas in your town that need volunteer help. Thank goodness for social media, as well as for Vermonters pulling together to help each other.</p>