Agencies help flood victims meet needs

The floodwater in their Dutchtown yard was over their heads. Inside the house, it was up to their waist. Kristy and Justin Shoemaker lost everything in the span of two weeks.

They doubt anything inside the house can be salvaged, and the house is probably beyond repair, too. Kristy believes the best course of action will be to burn everything inside so the house does not become a health hazard for their neighbors.

They were offered a buyout, but the house was built by Justin's grandfather, and they did not want to leave. Because they were in the buyout territory, they said they were ineligible for flood insurance.

"We're alive; that's the only thing that matters," Justin Shoemaker said.

Making matters worse, Justin Shoemaker is unemployed; he was trying to get on disability for epileptic seizures.

He once owned a tree-trimming service, but that's a dangerous job even when the chain-saw operator is not at risk for a seizure. Shoemaker suffered a seizure during the flood when he was helping a neighbor put up

sandbags, and he was rescued by the Cape Girardeau Fire Department.

Justin and Kristy Shoemaker have three children, ages 8, 11 and 15. Among the $10,000 worth of items ruined in their house were Christmas presents.

"You can't let them see you cry," Justin Shoemaker said of his children. "You're supposed to be strong for your kids."

The Shoemakers were two of about two dozen people who came to the Salvation Army Building in Cape Girardeau on Friday, looking for help from more than 14 agencies that gathered as a part of a multi-agency resource center. Volunteers from all agencies assisted flood victims, including those who logged 1,700 hours through the Community Emergency Response Team. The Shoemakers had gathered vouchers for eye glasses, gas and clothing. They also received tetanus shots and rental assistance -- about two months' worth to help them get on their feet.

"At something like this you feel, A, you're not alone, and B, there are people who care," Kristy Shoemaker said.

The Red Cross and Salvation Army provided immediate needs -- food, clothing, help getting prescription medications and some aid for shelter. The Red Cross acted as the guide, directing people to organizations that could provide other help.

"It's been awesome helping people," Red Cross intern Kyle Dryer said.

The Cape Girardeau County Health Department provided free tetanus shots and kits to test drinking water.

Other organizations provided more long-term benefits. Catholic Charities offered help with cleanup and rebuilding.

"It's our goal to help them until every possible resource is exhausted or they receive the help they need," Catholic Charities regional director Kyle Schott said. "When we talk about long term, we emphasize the word 'long.'"

Regional mental-health and counseling services offered flood victims mental-health assessments, with depression and anxiety being natural reactions to a traumatic disaster. The agencies also wanted to ensure people knew they would be there when victims asked for help months later.

"Those feelings of anxiety and being fearful, being scared for your children -- that's going to come back," emergency services specialist Cynthia Vann said.

Meeting the needs of some victims was much harder.

Heather and Joey McCullough never thought their house on Highway 177 would flood. In 1993, neighbors' houses flooded, but not theirs. The house had never flooded over the previous 50 years. It was such a safe bet, the McCulloughs' landlords canceled the flood insurance.

The McCulloughs have been displaced for a week. They -- including their six children ages 9 weeks to 15 years -- were forced to leave their home by boat when two of the five pumps on the property failed.

Now, the family is staying in Joey McCullough's parents' basement, and Heather feels lucky to have a full-sized bed and bathroom. The younger children sleep with their parents, but the four older children are resigned to fluffy sleeping bags on the floor. Heather McCullough worries about her children's health. Family members being in such close proximity to each other is causing emotions to become frayed, because the three oldest children all had their own rooms back home.

The McCulloughs' solution to this housing problem, however, was not apparent Friday. People wanted to help, but Heather McCullough, with 9-week-old Jaxon, went from agency to agency without getting a clear answer.

"There's nobody that knows where to go," Heather McCullough said.

The McCulloughs situation is bleak, but Joey McCullough was working Friday as a delivery driver for Plaza Tire and Auto Service, even though he hated being away from home, Heather McCullough said. Heather McCullough runs a company called Damsel in Defense, which supplies Tasers, utility flashlights and other items. Her inventory of items was ruined by the flood.

Mark King lost his job because of the flood. He was working for the property management company that owned his family's rental house on Highway 74. The home flooded, despite the landlord's promises to the contrary. When the family asked for a different rental property, the property owner fired King, he said. Mark and Emily King have been commuting between St. Louis and Cape Girardeau each day, using their parents' houses. They, too, have young children -- Jackson, 4, and Lucy, 10 months.

"It's a nightmare," Emily King said.

Mary Steck, Bozena Chetnik and Lana Huynh, relief volunteers for The Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association, have been going door to door in flood areas offering assistance. Chetnick and Huynh have volunteered at other disasters, including the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Hurricane Katrina and the earthquake in Haiti. Regardless of the scale of the disaster, Huynh said the human experience is about the same.

"Everything is heartbreaking on individual levels," Huynh said. "People are so amazing. They come by and they've lost everything, and they have incredible faith in God. I don't know if I lost everything if I could be like that."

bkleine@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3644

Pertinent address: 701 Good Hope St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.