Others were not considered to be living in a flood zone until after the storm. That was the case for Polly Barse Fleming, who said her house in Neon, Ky., had been in her husband’s family for more than a century and never experienced flooding before last July.
Four days before the heavy rains, Ms. Barse Fleming, 42, bought a new car for the first time. The $20,000 down payment for the Toyota Highlander, a practical choice to navigate the rural roads to the middle school where she teaches science, was a significant and carefully considered expense. Then virtually overnight, her family needed to take out loans for tens of thousands of dollars to address disaster costs.
The house now relies on jacks to stay upright. Ms. Barse Fleming applied for FEMA funding, and after an in-person assessment of the damage, the agency sent $40,000. FEMA bases these figures on reported losses and needs, explaining that its support will not make a survivor “whole” but is meant to assist with basic living expenses.
Ms. Barse Fleming’s family put the funds toward a down payment on a double-wide manufactured house. This choice was strategic: She said her insurance agent had explained that the double-wide’s policy would cover flooding, saving the family an extra monthly cost. This was a selling point because even with FEMA funding and preapproval for a Small Business Administration loan, the personal expenses have been mounting.
In addition to jacks for the house, the family needed cleaning supplies and extra gas money for the longer route that Ms. Barse Fleming takes to work to avoid damaged roads. She also lost her garden, which used to provide the family with tomatoes, squash, peppers and other produce — food she also gave to her pet tortoises and lizards.
Like Ms. Combs, Ms. Barse Fleming credits others for providing critical assistance in covering these costs. One donation that stood out was an upright bass from WoodSongs Old-Time Radio Hour, a nonprofit, for her 13-year-old daughter, a musician.
“Many of us have pieced our lives back together from the generosity of others,” Ms. Barse Fleming said. “There is no way our family could have afforded new contents of the house in addition to all else we were trying to do.”
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