Well before the first hint of dawn, I listen to the sounds our house makes in the night. Whirring overhead fan. Purring air purifier. Barely audible radio voices — KBIA at 5:30 a.m., connecting us to NPR and the world. Click. The thermostat register checks its own temperature, set at 65 degrees for the night. Clink. Ice drops onto a pile of cubes in the freezer bin.
Still one more sound catches my attention. Unfamiliar, it is curious enough to have me leave the warmth of down feathers, wool blankets and Kit to find its source. But first, I slip my bare feet into chocolate-colored, high-topped, fleece-lined Ugg boots — replacements for my old pair purchased in New Zealand long before the world decided these woolly boots from Down Under were, in fact, not so Ugg-ly after all.
Ignoring traditional house robes, I opt for a warm, oatmeal-colored, oversized sweater that almost reaches my knees and add a sleeveless fleece-lined vest the color of Burmese garnets. Catching my image in the glass porch door, my white pajama pants float beneath the sweater and vest like Pakistani shalwar kameez. For an instant, I see my beautiful sisters, Molly and Kim, in the late 1970s. Dressed in traditional pajamalike pants and long tops, they are wrapped in cashmere pashmina shawls as a cold dawn rises over the ancient city of Gabedero in Sindh Province, Pakistan.
That sound again, and I’m in the warming room, where I discover the fan switch on the front of the Buck stove has been blowing all night over hot embers stowed under a pile of gray ash. Sifting under the pile, I uncover two live shards of last night’s fire and add twigs and a small piece of split wood. Soon, I have a fire humming back to life in the stove.
One final sound. A cat scratches at the basement door. Fanny, our sharp-eared calico Manx, has heard me padding around. It’s still dark outside; nonetheless, morning is under way as far as this cat is concerned. Feed me, she insists while weaving in, around and just ahead of my feet — a feline skater executing perfect figure eights on icy linoleum. The tinny-tight snap of a tuna can opening, instantly bringing our three cats to their bowls.
Only then do I push in the coffee button. Clear water runs through dark ground java and cinnamon — drip, drip dripping dark brown into the carafe below.
Milk steamed and coffee poured, I head for the couch across from the now-glowing Buck stove, adding a large piece of split firewood on my way.
Predawn, my favorite hour of the day. In touch with the house and its living, breathing sounds, I am fully awake and at peace. The fire, a plaid, wool blanket and two sprawling lap cats conspire to keep me warm.
Settled in at last, I join the rich cast of characters in two books by Sri Lankan-born Canadian author Michael Ondaatje — colorful companions for what remains of the night.
In “The Cat’s Table,” an 11-year-old boy makes a life-altering journey by ship from Ceylon to England in 1954. In his lyrical travel memoir, “Running in the Family,” Ondaatje, who is in his early 40s, reconnects with his eccentric Ceylonese-Dutch family and the landscape he left as a child, moving first to England and then relocating to Canada in 1962.
Upon arriving back in Sri Lanka, formerly Ceylon, Ondaatje identifies sounds in the night, linking him to his distant childhood there. Reading his description of a peacock’s disturbed cry when awakened from its perch high in the trees, I’m instantly linked through memory to a mysterious peacock on a walkabout many years ago that spent a night in a walnut tree at our former Breakfast Creek home.
Then, as light spills from Ondaatje’s pen over flaming tropical flamboyant trees, I look up to witness the arrival of dawn at Boomerang Creek, just this side of winter.
2011年12月12日星期一
2011年12月8日星期四
Beijing Air Pollution Brouhaha
Smog recently forced the cancellation of almost 700 flights at Beijing airport, igniting a mini media firestorm. Since flights at Beijing’s airport have been canceled on any number of occasions over the past two decades because of pollution, why all the attention now?
First, the flight cancellations have generally occurred in the spring as a result of the yellow dust storms that sweep across China’s northern plain. The city of Beijing has little ability to control these choking clouds of dust. This time, however, the pollution was all Beijing’s doing.
Second, the Beijing government is already under enormous popular pressure for its inability and/or unwillingness to tackle its air quality problems head on. Everyone in Beijing knows that on a daily basis the air quality ranges from fair to fairly awful. How else did it earn the distinction of being one of the world’s dirtiest capitals? But the local government simply refuses to acknowledge the reality of the problem. Thus, while it regularly reports blue sky days, the people in Beijing live in an almost perpetual state of gray.
But the real catalyst for the current contretemps is the U.S. Embassy. If Beijing citizens were once resigned to living in this alternative state of reality, then that’s no longer the case. The U.S. Embassy has changed the way the game is played. On a daily basis, the embassy tweets data reflecting the real air quality for the area in which the embassy resides. Last Sunday, for example, as NPR reported, the pollution recorded by the embassy hit a level described as “beyond index.” The Beijing Municipal Bureau of Environmental Protection, in contrast, reported the air pollution as “light.”
There are important differences in the pollutants on which Beijing reports (PM 10) and those on which the U.S. Embassy reports (PM 2.5 and Ozone) and how each rates air quality (the United States has much stricter standards for clean air). Environmental expert Steven Q. Andrews provides an excellent analysis comparing the two sets of measurements and standards. (Steven is a personal hero of mine having been the person who, a few years ago, uncovered the Chinese government’s habit of moving air pollution monitoring equipment to less heavily trafficked areas in order to improve the air quality ratings.)
Beijing has pledged to report on additional pollutants by 2016. Why 2016? My guess is that they are waiting for the 12th Five Year Plan to kick into gear in the vain hope that the government’s investment in alternative energies and alternative fuel vehicles will come to fruition and help them out.
I don’t think the people will wait that long. They know that the government has the capacity to measure and report on the additional statistics now. Real estate billionaire Pan Shiyi conducted an online poll and discovered that 91 percent of the more than 40,000 respondents believed that the government should monitor particle levels at the 2.5 micrometer level this year – people in Beijing care about their health and the health of their children. According to a deputy director of the Beijing Health Bureau, the lung cancer rate in Beijing over the past decade has increased by 60 percent, even though the rate of smoking hasn’t increased.
It doesn’t help the Beijing public to know that their own leaders have air purifiers in their offices and other government buildings.
Even as Beijing struggles to address the popular discontent with the city’s air pollution, it appears to be trying to get ahead of the curve on water issues. The Global Times announced that people in Beijing will be able to access daily an online system to check their water quality. Of course, they will be receiving information not about the water they drink, but rather about the quality of the water at the pumping station. As the article also notes, what happens as the water travels through “broken pipes” and “aging storage tanks” is anybody’s guess.
First, the flight cancellations have generally occurred in the spring as a result of the yellow dust storms that sweep across China’s northern plain. The city of Beijing has little ability to control these choking clouds of dust. This time, however, the pollution was all Beijing’s doing.
Second, the Beijing government is already under enormous popular pressure for its inability and/or unwillingness to tackle its air quality problems head on. Everyone in Beijing knows that on a daily basis the air quality ranges from fair to fairly awful. How else did it earn the distinction of being one of the world’s dirtiest capitals? But the local government simply refuses to acknowledge the reality of the problem. Thus, while it regularly reports blue sky days, the people in Beijing live in an almost perpetual state of gray.
But the real catalyst for the current contretemps is the U.S. Embassy. If Beijing citizens were once resigned to living in this alternative state of reality, then that’s no longer the case. The U.S. Embassy has changed the way the game is played. On a daily basis, the embassy tweets data reflecting the real air quality for the area in which the embassy resides. Last Sunday, for example, as NPR reported, the pollution recorded by the embassy hit a level described as “beyond index.” The Beijing Municipal Bureau of Environmental Protection, in contrast, reported the air pollution as “light.”
There are important differences in the pollutants on which Beijing reports (PM 10) and those on which the U.S. Embassy reports (PM 2.5 and Ozone) and how each rates air quality (the United States has much stricter standards for clean air). Environmental expert Steven Q. Andrews provides an excellent analysis comparing the two sets of measurements and standards. (Steven is a personal hero of mine having been the person who, a few years ago, uncovered the Chinese government’s habit of moving air pollution monitoring equipment to less heavily trafficked areas in order to improve the air quality ratings.)
Beijing has pledged to report on additional pollutants by 2016. Why 2016? My guess is that they are waiting for the 12th Five Year Plan to kick into gear in the vain hope that the government’s investment in alternative energies and alternative fuel vehicles will come to fruition and help them out.
I don’t think the people will wait that long. They know that the government has the capacity to measure and report on the additional statistics now. Real estate billionaire Pan Shiyi conducted an online poll and discovered that 91 percent of the more than 40,000 respondents believed that the government should monitor particle levels at the 2.5 micrometer level this year – people in Beijing care about their health and the health of their children. According to a deputy director of the Beijing Health Bureau, the lung cancer rate in Beijing over the past decade has increased by 60 percent, even though the rate of smoking hasn’t increased.
It doesn’t help the Beijing public to know that their own leaders have air purifiers in their offices and other government buildings.
Even as Beijing struggles to address the popular discontent with the city’s air pollution, it appears to be trying to get ahead of the curve on water issues. The Global Times announced that people in Beijing will be able to access daily an online system to check their water quality. Of course, they will be receiving information not about the water they drink, but rather about the quality of the water at the pumping station. As the article also notes, what happens as the water travels through “broken pipes” and “aging storage tanks” is anybody’s guess.
2011年11月8日星期二
New cigar store, club opens up doors in Medford
It’s a place for men to go instead of hiding out in the garage or the back deck. It’s actually the men’s version of a tea room.
Main Street Cigars has opened on Main Street in Medford.
It is a sophisticated business, with the largest humidor in the region. Cigars sell from $4 to $20 and patrons can become members in a private lounge with leather chairs and big screen televisions all while smoking a cigar and maybe talking sports or politics with other cigar smokers.
Owner Deborah Rulli, who lives in the downtown district in Medford, is no stranger to operating a business on Main Street. For 12 years, she ran For the Senses, a popular store that became a victim of a bad economy.
“People just stopped shopping,” she said.
Looking for another business to open because she needed the income, Rulli began talking to people in the cigar business. She went to Las Vegas to meet some of the vendors. She sought out mentors to teach her the finer points of cigar smoking.
“Even in a bad economy, cigars are a small luxury. People will buy a good cigar.”
Main Street Cigars has opened on Main Street in Medford.
It is a sophisticated business, with the largest humidor in the region. Cigars sell from $4 to $20 and patrons can become members in a private lounge with leather chairs and big screen televisions all while smoking a cigar and maybe talking sports or politics with other cigar smokers.
Owner Deborah Rulli, who lives in the downtown district in Medford, is no stranger to operating a business on Main Street. For 12 years, she ran For the Senses, a popular store that became a victim of a bad economy.
“People just stopped shopping,” she said.
Looking for another business to open because she needed the income, Rulli began talking to people in the cigar business. She went to Las Vegas to meet some of the vendors. She sought out mentors to teach her the finer points of cigar smoking.
“Even in a bad economy, cigars are a small luxury. People will buy a good cigar.”
2011年10月25日星期二
Class Sneezes at Flu-Fighting Oreck Vacuum
Oreck markets its "flu-fighting" vacuum cleaners and air purifiers with false claims that they can "eliminate common viruses, germs and allergens, thereby helping to prevent the illnesses they cause," consumers say in a federal class action.
"Defendants represented to consumers that the products used scientifically proven technology to eliminate common viruses, germs and allergens, thereby helping to prevent the illnesses they cause," the complaint states. "However, these representations were false, deceptive and inaccurate. As such, Oreck's actions violated the Magnum Moss Warranty Act ('MMWA'), breached express warranties made by defendants, breached implied contractual warranties imposed by law, violated numerous California consumer protection statutes, and violated New York consumer protection statutes and common laws."
Lead plaintiffs Roxy Edge and Linda Gonzalez sued Oreck Corp. and three Oreck LLCs. They say the Nashville-based company cannot back up its claims that its vacuum cleaners and air-purifiers can "kill" bacteria and viruses.
Oreck claims that its Halo brand upright vacuum cleaner is "different from an ordinary upright vacuum" because of its "light chamber."
According to Oreck's ads, the product "'creates a powerful germicidal wavelength of UV-C light that can kill and reduce up to 99.9 percent of germs and bacteria helping you give your floors a healthier clean,'" the complaint states.
It continues: "This functionality was depicted in a number of different ways throughout Oreck's many advertising mediums. One such advertisement showed a man in a lab coat (apparently lending credence to Oreck's claims of scientific testing) vacuuming a floor surface with the Halo. Other advertisements featured the Halo eliminating simulated germs, bacteria and dust mite eggs below a carpeted floor surface. According to defendants, all of this was accomplished in less than one second of exposure to the light emitted from the Halo. One of Oreck's printed advertisements claimed that, 'when the light is on, germs are gone.'"
"In this product, Oreck didn't claim that the UV-C light, dubbed the 'Helios Shield,' killed germs, bacteria, molds, or viruses like the Halo. Although they were frequently advertised together, Oreck represented that the ProShield Plus air purifier 'uses ultraviolet light to smash the molecular structure of gases and odors' and 'uses UV light to remove many odors from the air.' Defendants also made very similar claims about their air purifiers' germ killing and flu fighting abilities, claiming the air purifiers would remove flu and other viruses, bacteria, mold and other pathogens from the air," the complaint states.
"Unfortunately for plaintiffs and the class, defendants' claims are not adequately supported by credible, scientific testing or other substantiation, and are not true," the complaint states.
The FTC this year fined Oreck $750,000 for "false and deceptive claims" and ordered it to stop claiming "Halo and the ProShield can kill bacteria, viruses and other pathogens, and thereby prevent illness," the complaint adds.
The plaintiffs seek class damages under the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act and Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act, for breach of express warranties, breach of implied warranty of merchantability, consumer law violations, unfair competition, false advertising and violations of New York General Business Laws.
Oreck spokesman John Van Mol told Courthouse News: "In this case no class has been certified. The company does not believe there is any merit to the plaintiffs' attorneys' case and it intends to vigorously defend the lawsuit."
"Defendants represented to consumers that the products used scientifically proven technology to eliminate common viruses, germs and allergens, thereby helping to prevent the illnesses they cause," the complaint states. "However, these representations were false, deceptive and inaccurate. As such, Oreck's actions violated the Magnum Moss Warranty Act ('MMWA'), breached express warranties made by defendants, breached implied contractual warranties imposed by law, violated numerous California consumer protection statutes, and violated New York consumer protection statutes and common laws."
Lead plaintiffs Roxy Edge and Linda Gonzalez sued Oreck Corp. and three Oreck LLCs. They say the Nashville-based company cannot back up its claims that its vacuum cleaners and air-purifiers can "kill" bacteria and viruses.
Oreck claims that its Halo brand upright vacuum cleaner is "different from an ordinary upright vacuum" because of its "light chamber."
According to Oreck's ads, the product "'creates a powerful germicidal wavelength of UV-C light that can kill and reduce up to 99.9 percent of germs and bacteria helping you give your floors a healthier clean,'" the complaint states.
It continues: "This functionality was depicted in a number of different ways throughout Oreck's many advertising mediums. One such advertisement showed a man in a lab coat (apparently lending credence to Oreck's claims of scientific testing) vacuuming a floor surface with the Halo. Other advertisements featured the Halo eliminating simulated germs, bacteria and dust mite eggs below a carpeted floor surface. According to defendants, all of this was accomplished in less than one second of exposure to the light emitted from the Halo. One of Oreck's printed advertisements claimed that, 'when the light is on, germs are gone.'"
"In this product, Oreck didn't claim that the UV-C light, dubbed the 'Helios Shield,' killed germs, bacteria, molds, or viruses like the Halo. Although they were frequently advertised together, Oreck represented that the ProShield Plus air purifier 'uses ultraviolet light to smash the molecular structure of gases and odors' and 'uses UV light to remove many odors from the air.' Defendants also made very similar claims about their air purifiers' germ killing and flu fighting abilities, claiming the air purifiers would remove flu and other viruses, bacteria, mold and other pathogens from the air," the complaint states.
"Unfortunately for plaintiffs and the class, defendants' claims are not adequately supported by credible, scientific testing or other substantiation, and are not true," the complaint states.
The FTC this year fined Oreck $750,000 for "false and deceptive claims" and ordered it to stop claiming "Halo and the ProShield can kill bacteria, viruses and other pathogens, and thereby prevent illness," the complaint adds.
The plaintiffs seek class damages under the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act and Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act, for breach of express warranties, breach of implied warranty of merchantability, consumer law violations, unfair competition, false advertising and violations of New York General Business Laws.
Oreck spokesman John Van Mol told Courthouse News: "In this case no class has been certified. The company does not believe there is any merit to the plaintiffs' attorneys' case and it intends to vigorously defend the lawsuit."
2011年10月16日星期日
The Best And Worst Electronic Air Cleaner You Can Buy Today
As deterrence is far better than cure we strive to keep our area clean and sanitary. Air is among the main elements of survival. Every living being endures by breathing air. But the escalating environmental pollution needs an added aid to help keep the air refreshing. An Electronic Air cleaner gives that support to you. It truly is a system particularly produced to eliminate the contamination and purify the air. Keep in mind filtered air is definitely expected for better health at home.
Why Use An Electronic Air cleanser?
The ancient cleanser employed considering that ages will be the broom. It is low cost and convenient but restricted. The dust contaminants seldom go anywhere far. The person sweeping and people close by get sprayed with dust particles. The bending necessary to sweep with the broom has given the women a persistent back ache. The electronic cleaner is built retaining this planned.
The electronic cleaner is designed to cleanse the air to a greater magnitude. They remove dust, pollens, dust mites, and other allergens and also bacteria. Certain electronic residence air purifiers are helpful at removing particles as small as 0.3 microns.
Absolute Air At Shelter Away from the working hours we invest our day at house. To stay wholesome it is particularly essential to inhale refreshing. Inside smog is amid the leading five ecological wellness perils. To prevent or control this risk ventilate your home with clean exterior air. This becoming insufficient you possibly can use an air cleansing equipment.
Some air maintaining products are created to be installed within the duct work of a home’s central heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning program to clean the air inside the whole residence. Portable room air purifiers could be utilized to clean the air within a room or precise areas, but they are not intended for whole-house filtering method.
Some filtration systems make use of ultraviolet light enhancements designed to ruin air-borne pollutants in interior air. Two forms of air cleansing devices are mechanical hvac filters and automated air cleansers. Mechanical air filters eliminate particles by capturing them on filter supplies. Gas-phase air filters get rid of gases and smells by making use of a material referred to as a sorbent, for example activated carbon, which adsorbs the contaminants. These filters are commonly designed to remove one or much more gaseous contaminants from the airstream that goes by by means of them.
Even though air-cleaning devices might assist manage the levels of airborne dirt such as those related to allergens, air cleaning might possibly not decrease unpleasant well being outcomes from indoor air toxins.
Learn more about an electronic air cleaner. Stop by Fred Zinman’s site where you can find out all about electronic air cleaner and what it can do for you.
Why Use An Electronic Air cleanser?
The ancient cleanser employed considering that ages will be the broom. It is low cost and convenient but restricted. The dust contaminants seldom go anywhere far. The person sweeping and people close by get sprayed with dust particles. The bending necessary to sweep with the broom has given the women a persistent back ache. The electronic cleaner is built retaining this planned.
The electronic cleaner is designed to cleanse the air to a greater magnitude. They remove dust, pollens, dust mites, and other allergens and also bacteria. Certain electronic residence air purifiers are helpful at removing particles as small as 0.3 microns.
Absolute Air At Shelter Away from the working hours we invest our day at house. To stay wholesome it is particularly essential to inhale refreshing. Inside smog is amid the leading five ecological wellness perils. To prevent or control this risk ventilate your home with clean exterior air. This becoming insufficient you possibly can use an air cleansing equipment.
Some air maintaining products are created to be installed within the duct work of a home’s central heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning program to clean the air inside the whole residence. Portable room air purifiers could be utilized to clean the air within a room or precise areas, but they are not intended for whole-house filtering method.
Some filtration systems make use of ultraviolet light enhancements designed to ruin air-borne pollutants in interior air. Two forms of air cleansing devices are mechanical hvac filters and automated air cleansers. Mechanical air filters eliminate particles by capturing them on filter supplies. Gas-phase air filters get rid of gases and smells by making use of a material referred to as a sorbent, for example activated carbon, which adsorbs the contaminants. These filters are commonly designed to remove one or much more gaseous contaminants from the airstream that goes by by means of them.
Even though air-cleaning devices might assist manage the levels of airborne dirt such as those related to allergens, air cleaning might possibly not decrease unpleasant well being outcomes from indoor air toxins.
Learn more about an electronic air cleaner. Stop by Fred Zinman’s site where you can find out all about electronic air cleaner and what it can do for you.
2011年8月7日星期日
Flood Insurance and FEMA Leave a Local Woman Disheartened
Even those who were not directly affected by last year’s floods remember the images of the Warwick Mall besieged by a raging torrent, as well as the flood waters enveloping local streets and homes
The legacy of last year’s major deluge is still being keenly felt by many Rhode Islanders.
Kathy Zachirchuk of Cranston remembers it all too well. Her story is harrowing, but the damage done is more than to just material things.
On that Tuesday in late March, even though the temperature was in the mid-forties, the rain fell as though it were in the tropics. Both Zachirchuk and her elderly mother had been home sick that day when she noticed water seeping into her basement. She started her sump pump and nervously watched the rain fall. But the water in her basement rose swiftly, eventually taking the electricity and heat out, as well as the sump pump.
“I was getting really nervous, especially when I saw the water coming up my lawn,” Zachirchuk recounts. “It was rising around the cars in the driveway.”
She was able to move her car further up the lawn away from the approaching water, but by the time she was able to get to her mother’s car, it was already partially submerged and would not start.
“I called AAA,” Zachirchuk said, “but my street was already too badly flooded and they couldn’t even get close to me.” The car was totaled.
When she went back to check on the basement, she was horrified to find the water coming up the steps. Even if the sump pump had been working, it would not have been able to contend with the over six feet of water in her basement. The water eventually stopped rising at the third step from the first floor.
Zachirchuk and her mother were stuck inside the house for several days while the water receded. While the electricity was restored shortly after it was lost, the heat did not return for days.
The material loss was vast: hundreds of books, stored kitchenware and pottery, a washer and dryer, an oil burner and oil tank, the electrical wiring in the basement, and thousands of dollars worth of clothes that were stored in a recently finished cedar closet.
A FEMA inspector came to survey the loss. “The inspector was amazed by the damage, and said that we qualified for the highest possible claim,” Zachirchuk said.
FEMA later rejected her claim, stating that, because she had flood insurance, she could not "double-dip." They instructed her to finish consulting with her insurance company, and afterwards she could re-file her claim with them to be considered for either a grant or a loan.
Because the type of flood insurance she had was dwelling \insurance, and not content insurance, she was not eligible to receive compensation for much of her belongings.
Her insurance company partially reimbursed her for her central air conditioning unit, oil tank and oil burner, and electrical wiring in the basement. Nothing else was covered, and so she turned back to FEMA.
“FEMA was vague about whether I would get a grant or a loan. It was hours and hours of paperwork. It was very redundant and at the end of it I was so tired and disheartened,” Zachirchuk said.
Not too long after the paperwork was submitted, Zachirchuk’s mother took ill and was forced to go to the hospital. It was at that time that FEMA called Zachirchuk to request a re-inspection of the damage to her house.
“It was bad timing, considering how ill my mother was,” Zachirchuk said. She requested that they reschedule the inspection for another time. FEMA called her back shortly thereafter to reschedule again. Her mother was still slowly convalescing and Zachirchuk was still at the hospital with her. She asked once again to reschedule, and received a message on her cell phone from FEMA saying that they were dropping her claim.
“They left a message saying that they were canceling me because I didn’t meet with them,’” Zachirchuk said. “Even though I had explained to them twice that I would gladly meet with them once things had calmed down with my mother.”
FEMA stated that, if she wished to appeal, she would have to re-do all of the paperwork she had originally submitted. Exhausted emotionally and physically, she did not file the appeal.
“I couldn’t do it,” she said. “I didn’t have it in me to go through it all again. It was just too painful.”
Over a year later, she is still fixing the house. She is using a home equity loan that she had from before the flood to help fix her house, paying for it as she uses it. FEMA did reimburse her for a dehumidifier, but only partially because it was the wrong type of dehumidifier, according to their policy. They also stated that she could be reimbursed for an air purifier to eliminate the mold and mildew growth, but after she bought it, they said that they do not reimburse for air purifiers.
“Reimbursement is not as easy as it sounds,” said Zachirchuk. “There are games and if you’re not careful, you’ll wind up paying for a lot of it yourself.”
“This was a once-in-a-200 year flood,” said Zachirchuk’s friend, George Trudell, who is helping her rebuild. His residence, Riverview Terrace on Fordson Avenue in Cranston, was also flooded out during that time. “There was really nothing we could have done. (Zachirchuk’s) sump pump would have failed even if the power hadn’t gone out. There would have still been the same amount of damage. It was a perfect storm.”
The legacy of last year’s major deluge is still being keenly felt by many Rhode Islanders.
Kathy Zachirchuk of Cranston remembers it all too well. Her story is harrowing, but the damage done is more than to just material things.
On that Tuesday in late March, even though the temperature was in the mid-forties, the rain fell as though it were in the tropics. Both Zachirchuk and her elderly mother had been home sick that day when she noticed water seeping into her basement. She started her sump pump and nervously watched the rain fall. But the water in her basement rose swiftly, eventually taking the electricity and heat out, as well as the sump pump.
“I was getting really nervous, especially when I saw the water coming up my lawn,” Zachirchuk recounts. “It was rising around the cars in the driveway.”
She was able to move her car further up the lawn away from the approaching water, but by the time she was able to get to her mother’s car, it was already partially submerged and would not start.
“I called AAA,” Zachirchuk said, “but my street was already too badly flooded and they couldn’t even get close to me.” The car was totaled.
When she went back to check on the basement, she was horrified to find the water coming up the steps. Even if the sump pump had been working, it would not have been able to contend with the over six feet of water in her basement. The water eventually stopped rising at the third step from the first floor.
Zachirchuk and her mother were stuck inside the house for several days while the water receded. While the electricity was restored shortly after it was lost, the heat did not return for days.
The material loss was vast: hundreds of books, stored kitchenware and pottery, a washer and dryer, an oil burner and oil tank, the electrical wiring in the basement, and thousands of dollars worth of clothes that were stored in a recently finished cedar closet.
A FEMA inspector came to survey the loss. “The inspector was amazed by the damage, and said that we qualified for the highest possible claim,” Zachirchuk said.
FEMA later rejected her claim, stating that, because she had flood insurance, she could not "double-dip." They instructed her to finish consulting with her insurance company, and afterwards she could re-file her claim with them to be considered for either a grant or a loan.
Because the type of flood insurance she had was dwelling \insurance, and not content insurance, she was not eligible to receive compensation for much of her belongings.
Her insurance company partially reimbursed her for her central air conditioning unit, oil tank and oil burner, and electrical wiring in the basement. Nothing else was covered, and so she turned back to FEMA.
“FEMA was vague about whether I would get a grant or a loan. It was hours and hours of paperwork. It was very redundant and at the end of it I was so tired and disheartened,” Zachirchuk said.
Not too long after the paperwork was submitted, Zachirchuk’s mother took ill and was forced to go to the hospital. It was at that time that FEMA called Zachirchuk to request a re-inspection of the damage to her house.
“It was bad timing, considering how ill my mother was,” Zachirchuk said. She requested that they reschedule the inspection for another time. FEMA called her back shortly thereafter to reschedule again. Her mother was still slowly convalescing and Zachirchuk was still at the hospital with her. She asked once again to reschedule, and received a message on her cell phone from FEMA saying that they were dropping her claim.
“They left a message saying that they were canceling me because I didn’t meet with them,’” Zachirchuk said. “Even though I had explained to them twice that I would gladly meet with them once things had calmed down with my mother.”
FEMA stated that, if she wished to appeal, she would have to re-do all of the paperwork she had originally submitted. Exhausted emotionally and physically, she did not file the appeal.
“I couldn’t do it,” she said. “I didn’t have it in me to go through it all again. It was just too painful.”
Over a year later, she is still fixing the house. She is using a home equity loan that she had from before the flood to help fix her house, paying for it as she uses it. FEMA did reimburse her for a dehumidifier, but only partially because it was the wrong type of dehumidifier, according to their policy. They also stated that she could be reimbursed for an air purifier to eliminate the mold and mildew growth, but after she bought it, they said that they do not reimburse for air purifiers.
“Reimbursement is not as easy as it sounds,” said Zachirchuk. “There are games and if you’re not careful, you’ll wind up paying for a lot of it yourself.”
“This was a once-in-a-200 year flood,” said Zachirchuk’s friend, George Trudell, who is helping her rebuild. His residence, Riverview Terrace on Fordson Avenue in Cranston, was also flooded out during that time. “There was really nothing we could have done. (Zachirchuk’s) sump pump would have failed even if the power hadn’t gone out. There would have still been the same amount of damage. It was a perfect storm.”
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