Greensburg Daily News, Greensburg, IN

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  • Joe Hornaday

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August 9, 2009

Picking Up the Pieces

Dwiggins Family Devastated by Flood

Joe Hornaday

For many, the rainstorm and subsequent flooding that pummeled Greensburg and Decatur County on Tuesday, Aug. 4 was nothing more than a grave inconvenience. For others, the damage wrought by the rain cannonade was much more significant, and much more detrimental.

One of those families hit hardest by the storm belonged to Danny Dwiggins of Westport. His home and garage on South West Street in Westport became quickly submerged on Tuesday morning.

“I lost 95 percent of everything,” Danny Dwiggins said.

The garage was damaged more severely by the rainstorm, ending up with three feet of water standing in it by the end of the storm. Unfortunately for the Dwiggins family, most of their belongings were in the garage at the time.

“I woke up Tuesday and went to check it out, and it was flooded,” Danny Dwiggins said.

According to Danny Dwiggins’ mother Nicky Dwiggins, Danny had just purchased the home in February and was working to fix it up before moving in. The house was not in a livable state, so his family was staying with his mother while he worked out of the garage to repair the home. As a result, most of the family’s belongings were stored in the garage.

“They actually lost everything,” Nicky Dwiggins said. “His garage was under three feet of water. We didn’t know that was a flood-prone area.”

Inside the garage was a 52-inch television, two smaller televisions, computers, a stove, a refrigerator, a washer and dryer and beds.

“Everything you need for a real house was in there,” Nicky Dwiggins explained.

Fortunately, the house was not damaged significantly and water did not rise high enough to get inside. But because of the disaster, the future for Danny Dwiggins, his girlfriend Kim and two sons, 6-year-old Braydon and 3-year-old Jonathan remains uncertain.

Both Jonathan and Braydon lost several toys in the flooding. Nicky Dwiggins said that some of them can be washed, but others, like Braydon’s small computer learning device, were destroyed.

“All of the electronics were ruined,” Nicky Dwiggins said.

Some of the family’s clothes could be saved, and other articles of clothing could not.

“Everything was ruined. I need help with recovering,” Danny Dwiggins said.

He added that his family had applied to Red Cross for assistance, but they did not qualify.

“Red Cross couldn’t help because we weren’t living in the house,” Danny Dwiggins explained.

The flooding disaster could not have come at a worse time for the Dwiggins family. Danny Dwiggins said that he had been laid off last year in October, while his girlfriend Kim was laid off in December.

“The boys don’t really understand what happened, they keep wanting to go there,” Danny Dwiggins said.

Anyone interested in lending the Dwiggins family a helping hand or making donations to assist in this difficult time may call his family at 812-591-2415.

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