Bellevue Flood Recovery
Many people affected by the flood still hae a lot of work to clean up the destruction. The city is helping to assist with some of the clean up efforts. “We’re also helping figure out [the flood victim’s] mitigation and getting rid of their property and hauling it away to the dump so we’re providing dumpsters and items like that,” Mayor Rusty Hike said. Photo by Cora Bennett
Family suffers from flood destruction
Madie Ybay
Co-Editor in Chief
The flood may be over, but it’s effects are everlasting. Many families have been misplaced because their houses have been deemed uninhabitable. Junior Madison Ruch’s grandfather, John Ruch Sr., lost his family home in the flood.
“I was terrified when I heard that my grandfather had to be evacuated. I was scared for him and the house, but I am so glad that he got out and that he’s safe,” Madison Ruch said.
He was evacuated from his house in Green Acres on Mar 15. John Ruch Sr. was able to go home on Mar 30. He is now living with Madison Ruch and her father.
“Losing the house was such a tough thing to do. However, I can still carry those memories in my heart and I still have my family close to me so I can continue to create memories with them,” John Ruch Sr. said.
Green Acres was one of the first neighborhoods to be evacuated and one of the last to be accessible. Many of the houses in Paradise Lakes and Green Acres were too destroyed by the flood for them to be habitable. Home owners had 10 days to gather their surviving belongings from their house before the house was demolished.
“Going back to pick up what we could was extremely hard. Scavenging through old memories and not being able to take them back with us was the worst part,” John Ruch Jr. said.
The house had held many memories inside as John Ruch Sr. lived in that house since 1989. He raised his children John Ruch Jr. and Andrea Ruch in that house. Madison Ruch also grew up in that house making it especially devastating to lose.
“That house was a part of me. I lived there from when I was a baby until now,” Madison Ruch said. “The best and the worst memories were made there. It has been so hard to let it go.”
Going back to the house was something that the family had been anticipating during the weeks of evacuation. Nothing could have prepared the Ruch family for the destruction inside of the house. Almost all of their belongs had been ruined.
“When I was evacuated I could only get so close; I was running off of adrenaline. I just wanted to come home. Now that I saw what had really happened, I am devastated. All that adrenaline was just drained from me,” John Ruch Sr. said.
Now John Ruch Sr, John Ruch Jr. and Madison Ruch are living together after the loss of their family home. Through the support of the community they were able to get through the wreckage of a place that has held memories for them of over 30 years.
“Just the support of my friends and the rest of the community has really helped me; I appreciate the continuous support that has helped me and my family more than anyone knows,” Madison Ruch said.
