I had read about the Fernley flood area numerous times on print and on the web and was able to sign up for some volunteer work on Saturday January 12^th, 2008. After standing in line for my liability waiver and name tag, We proceeded to the damaged homes. For some of the homeowners, it was the first time they were able to return to their homes since the floods. It was rather emotional to say the least as many of these homeowner’s life possessions such as family photos and keepsakes were covered in mud and water. I was a party to the volunteer church and the Burners Without Borders group which included people from the Black Rock City/Gerlach area. We got busy helping a homeowner who seemed to be in a daze of what to keep and what to discard. We maneuvered waterlogged furniture and appliances out of the narrow door. The homeowner was having a very hard time keeping up with the process as about a dozen volunteers’ rapidly hauled belongings out. Later that day after hauling a large amount of drywall, insulation, appliances, and cabinets, we were able to get to some bare stud walls and sub floor. In the afternoon we started to remove all of the mud out of the home with snow shovels and squeegees. Many of the other groups had decided to move on to another home but I decided to stay and help him tear out his floors and do some additional tear up with the cordless tools I had with me. Even though there were a multitude of agencies out there to assist the Fernley flood Homeowners, I realized they had no direction of how the clean up and repair process was to proceed. After speaking to numerous homeowners, we came to the conclusion that we should just bring power washers to get all the remaining mud cleaned out. As darkness fell, I realized the homeowners had no clear understanding or direction that with the now open framed homes, exposed pipes and it being 17 degrees outside, their pipes were going to freeze. We proceeded to go house to house offering to turn the homeowners’ water off for them. It was disturbing but I guess not surprising to me that many homeowners I have been told, have been instructed not to do anything. I had a friend helping me that was from France and he had a hard time grasping the concept why somebody would want to leave their home unprotected with certain damage imminent. Earlier that day I heard rumors that people may not be doing anything to their homes including moving back in and therefore, disrupting their lives, in hopes of getting more out of the courts. This unfortunate event is a piece of cake in my eyes and they need to bust a move. I have seen and fixed much worse. Your Reno real estate Realtor,Ron Bell

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