UPDATED 11/09/09

Around 7:30 PM the evening of June 15, 2009 our building was hit by an extraordinary wind gust during a thunderstorm.  They think it was a microburst or a straight line wind, but it may have been a small tornado given it came out of the Southwest.  The wind tore off the eastern third of our roof and the intense rain pelted the ceiling until it collapsed and then we had rain and loose, cellulose insulation all over the place.

We were in the living room when this happened.  Anne kept asking whether we should be moving into the pantry with the cats since all the channels had weather stuff on them about the storms going through our area.  Brian said,  "no, we're fine.  I love weather".  It kept my eye on the skies to the Southwest. 

We first saw the wind gust coming and then we saw various pieces of roofs flying towards our building from other buildings that lost their roofs that night.  At that point we both turned to go to the center of the building and into our Pantry---the old bank safe---where there were no windows, but before we got there the microburst hit.  It lifted the covers of the crawl spaces up, our ears popped, we saw bright flashes (which we later learned were the 3 transformers located in the alleyway behind our building) and then all the loose insulation came snowing down on us.

The water first started coming down the elevator and then came thru all the recessed lighting fixtures.  By the time we got to the walk-in closet and the master bath there were huge waterfalls everywhere.  With the rain mixed in with the cellulose insulation it felt like walking in quicksand.  The insulation blocked the drain in the shower so the water couldn't drain.  We tried our best to pull the insulation clear but by that time the water was up to our calves.  Brian then made his way to the basement to turn off all the electricity even though the power was already out.  I kept going back and forth trying to carry everything on the countertops out of the bathroom as well as all our artwork on all the walls in the east side of the building.  Fortunately I was not in the bathroom or the closet when the ceiling collapsed.

When Brian came back upstairs Anne told him we no longer had a roof.  He said what do you mean.  Anne told him to look up and we could both see sky.  Brian then made a call to our contractor and within 15 minutes we had the roofers and about 10 guys over going up to the roof to try to put a cover on it before the next round of thunderstorms came through that night.  A large chunk of our roof was out on the street.  The wind had blown part of the parapet on the east side and blew the bricks down to the yard.  Most of the windows on the south side were smashed due to debris being blown towards us.  All the glass was either tempured, so it just cracked, or triple paned so nothing got beyond the 1st layer of glass.  The firemen came and told us we had to leave as they were declaring the building unsafe.  We grabbed all the electronics, the cats, and just a couple of items of clothing and went to a hotel the first night.

The next morning the claims representative came and went thru what we're covered for.  We had rtotal eplacement coverage for the building in case it ever ended up being a pile of rubble.  We had plenty of coverage for our personal items.  And we have unlimited coverage for displacement costs while we wait for them to rebuild everything.  So we have moved back into our Townhouse since it never sold. The insurance company has paid for electrical and cable work so Brian could set-up his office downstairs there.  They've installed a washer and dryer and they will pay the mortgage on the Townhouse and the Carey Building.

The insurance company hired a special adjuster to deal with the damage claim.  To quote him, "this is the worst residential disaster he's ever seen."  It's almost certain that they will total it and our contractor and the subs will have to do this all over again.  The insurance company also brought in ServiceMaster the 2nd day after the storm.  In less than 8 hours everything was moved out of the house and sent down to Wichita.  There it has been processed, cleaned and is being stored until we get back into the building (they pay for all storage costs).  All the appliances are being listed as unsalvageable because of the electronics in them and being in a very damp environment for many days and continue to be in the vacant building.

The roof was totally ripped off  and inspected.  Within 2 days the roofers had put on a new sub-roof and did the tarring process.  The final layer was put on the following week. Dehumidifiers were brought in an ran for over 30 days! A lot of the drywall and insulation has beed ripped out already along the flooring in the Eastern 1/3 of the building (Master Bath, Walk-in Closet, Master Bedroom, Home Office, all of the Garage Area and the Backstairs.

The cats were moved to the townhouse after the 1st night until we joined them after 21 days in a hotel.

We are working with our attorney  [ http://www.martindell.com/MyndeeReed.shtml ] who we retained to assist with the insurance claim process. She has been a terrific help as we wade through the damage assessment reprots, mitigation reports and meetings required on such a big claim. We are also working with our original Contractor who will re-do the original work he did. We joke with him that the first time was a dry run and that this time he will get it right!!

We're very thankful nobody got hurt and that our insurance agent insisted that we get full replacement coverage for our building.  So we don't have to worry financially about all of this.  It's just that we will be very unsettled for awhile.  It will probably take about 8 - 10 months before we can get everything rebuilt and move back in.  We're also stunned by the incredible show of support we've gotten from folks in town - one of the reasons we like small town living.

          Anne & Brian