Oct 13, 2008 5:13 pm US/Central
A Month After Floods, NW Indiana Still Cleaning Up
MUNSTER, Ind. (CBS) ―
It's been one month since heavy rains poured down and a swollen river caused extensive damage to homes in northwest Indiana.
Residents are still dealing with mold, mud and sewage in their homes. And as CBS 2's Mike Parker reports, there's a new call for volunteers to help out.
Hundreds of volunteers at the United Way volunteer center in Munster have been at work helping residents, many of them elderly, clean up the damage to their homes and start over. It hasn't been easy.
"I've seen some of the seniors that had a pretty good attitude and as the two or three weeks have gone by, they've gotten more tired and we're trying to get them more rest," said volunteer Dale Fieldhouse.
Mold is their worst enemy right now. It smells bad and is a health hazard. Volunteers like Joanne Haan spent hours Monday at the home of an elderly man in Hammond, bringing out unsalvageable things from a basement coated with dried, raw sewage.
"We've been going down to Louisiana and helping out. Now it's in my own back yard," Haan said.
Leroy Fassett, a volunteer from nearby Highland, was also on the project and feeling good about it.
"I'm a retired Presbyterian minister so I've had a lot of things affect me in my heart over the years but this is what it's all about," Fassett said.
Now the United Way needs more volunteer work crews to help rebuild.
"Churches, civic groups, just groups of neighbors...one house, one group, and adopt them," said Kathy Bonaventura of United Way.
Because the work now is so time consuming, the folks from United Way have a simple way of expressing their push for volunteers. What they need, they say, are hours -- not dollars.
To get involved in the rebuilding effort, call (219) 836-5390.
(CBS 2 and the Post-Tribune are news partners covering stories in the communities of northwest Indiana. Send story tips to tips@cbs2chicago.com. (© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Video: CBS 2's Picks To Click
