A family in West Valley was left homeless and a business owner in East Otto was left with a large mess to cleanup after a flood last week.
“It’s been a nightmare,” said Cathy Gross about her and her family who had to deal with a flooding house and save what belongings weren’t damaged by the flood.
The Gross family of West Valley had a rude awakening on Monday, Aug. 10 around 12:30 a.m. after going to bed around 11 p.m. on Sunday night.
“One of the grandkids got up to go the bathroom and got wet feet,” said Cathy who owns a home on Fox Valley Road.
Cheyanne went to her mother, Jennifer, who also lived in the house and asked why there was water on the floor.
“They stepped into like 6 inches of water,” explained Cathy, adding that the water was flowing through the plank on plank walls.
Cheyanne ran upstairs to tell her grandmother Cathy what was going on, but she was still half asleep.
“I said, ‘Cheyanne go back to bed, I will fix it in the morning.’”
Jennifer then began yelling at her mother (Cathy) to look out the dining room window when she finally realized what was happening.
“Then it was, ‘get the kids to the bedroom,’” Cathy said.
While waiting in the upstairs bedroom, the family saw the water bust through the front door. Cathy’s husband Terry had bolted the front door.
“He dead bolted it, and the water just broke the front door in,” she said.
A tremendous amount of water went rushing through the house in from the front and out through the back.
“About three feet of water came in, like a wall. It just rushed from one end of the house to the other,” explained Cathy.
Terry added that the water pushed through and put holes in the foundation.
The family had to be rescued by West Valley Volunteer firefighters.
The home is now uninhabitable.
The family also lost three vehicles which were damaged from the high waters.
“The cars were turned sideways,” said Terry explaining that the force of water was enough to flip them around.
The family will donate the house to the fire company to allow them to practice fires.
“We don’t have money to buy a new one, let alone demolish an old one,” Terry added.
The house used to be the West Valley Post Office and is believed to be over 100 years old.
“If you look at the old picture, it hasn’t really changed much,” he said.
The family said tree roots got backed up on the other side of the creek causing it to flood over the road and run right through the house.
Cathy and Terry Gross lived in their home for about 33 years. Their daughter Jennifer, her husband Jeramie (Foltz) and their children Cheyanne and Sierra have lived with them for about 11 years.
Cathy and Terry now plan to live with Jennifer and Jeramie who are in the process of closing on their new home soon, but next year they may build on a higher part of their own property.
The couple was planning to retire in their home on Fox Valley Road, which was paid for, but “at 58 we’re starting over,” they said.
On Zoar Valley Road in East Otto, Staci Saulter is dealing with a similar situation.
Her business, the Zoar Valley Inn was left intact, however the flood waters took four vehicles and most all of her boyfriend’s personal belongings which were being stored in a garage nearby.
Like the Gross family, Staci and her boyfriend Jim Walton were trapped inside from the floodwaters which reached about a foot and half inside the Inn and covered the top of her 73 Cadillac outside.
The Cadillac was once owned by her father and given to her when he passed away.
“I just got it on the road. It spent 10 years in the garage,” she said.
The flood also took three other vehicles that she owned including: a super duty pickup truck, a Pontiac and an F-150.
“I’m surprised it’s still here,” Staci said about the bar where she and her boyfriend were when the water levels rose.
They watched as it quickly covered the deck out back, which caused propane to leak and fill the bar with fumes.
“We realized we couldn’t get out at that point, the water was moving too fast,” she said.
They attempted to call 9-1-1, but the calls kept getting rerouted to Buffalo. Eventually they were able to call the sheriffs deputies who then sent out the East Otto Highway Department to help rescue them.
“They sent someone out in a bucket loader to get us,” she added.
Staci and Jim spent the night at the East Otto Fire Hall.
The two have been cleaning up from the flood ever since.
The flood left about 6 inches of mud and sand everywhere including sandbars on the lawn.
“Staci described it as, “unimaginable disgustingness.”
Thanks to help from about 20 friends and family, they cleaned up the parking lot and inside the bar. Two tractors and a skid steer worked for two days straight.
With her boyfriend on a tractor, they continue to remove mounds of dirt from the lawn out back. There is no grass showing. Staci is rebuilding her flower beds as well.
She had just put in all new gardens and new floors and resurfaced the parking lot. Everything was destroyed due to the storm.
“We were worried that the business was lost and worried that we wouldn’t make it out of the building,” she added.
Asked if she was still in shock since this all happened, Staci responded, “yes, looking around it’s hard to look at. Ten years of what I’ve put into it, my life savings, it’s hard to look at.”
Staci expressed her deepest thanks to everyone who helped.
The Zoar Valley Inn is open for business as of last Monday.
Staci said she plans to offer fish fries starting Friday. She was hopeful that Thursday the kitchen would be open with a limited menu, canned pop and bottled beer.
“Rest assured, we will be back and better than ever,” she added.