Gulfport Residents Deal with Flood Aftermath

The flood waters from last week’s heavy rainfall have receded but recovery and repairs for some are just getting started. News 25’s Kristen Durand caught up with residents in Gulfport’s Northwood Hills neighborhood who are still dealing with the aftermath.
A puddle in front of Katherine Sutton’s home is all that’s left of the heavy rainfall that plagued the Coast last week. “I woke up Thursday morning and when I got out of bed, there was just water all over the floor and I just kind of went through the house and there was water throughout the house.”
Katherine’s home was one of the ones that received the worst of the damage in her neighborhood, as the home is situated towards the bottom of the hill. The damage caused by the nearly half a foot of water in her home was the least of her worries at the time with her 99-year-old grandfather, William Lowenkamp, living at home with her. “It came all of a sudden, like a lot of other places here. All of a sudden, it was all over the place, inside, all over,” said Lowenkamp.
Since then the water has receded but the repairs are just getting started. A cleaning crew was out at Katherine’s home all morning, tearing out molding, dry wall and damaged cabinets. Ninety-nine year old William Lowenkamp says he’s seen it before, but not quite like this. “This time it was so fast and so quick, it was unbelievable.”
Katherine and William have a long road ahead until they get back into their home, but for now Katherine is just thankful she has flood insurance. “You would not think that my house would flood, it’s not in a flood zone but I would encourage everybody to always have flood insurance because you never know.”
The flood waters didn’t dampen their spirits. They’re looking forward to William’s 100th birthday next month. “I’d sure like to invite everybody to my party. I’m going to have a party on my birthday on the shore. There will be plenty of room there for everybody to come out and say hello,” said Lowenkamp.

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