Rising Tide 2012

continued

Insurance covered only the cost of the cleanup. Fisher figures that repairing their basement, raising the wells around the egress windows, and steepening the grade between their house and the street cost them "close to $20,000." Foster estimates his costs will be "well north of $15,000." In addition to drywall and insulation, "our furnace, hot water heater, washer, and dryer were all submerged, and so was our refrigerator."

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Fisher says she "needed to do something." Using a neighborhood email list, "I sent a letter to the mayor and copied the folks in the neighborhood."

She didn't hear back from mayor John Hieftje, so three weeks later she appeared before city council to plead her case. Fourth ward representative Margie Teall emailed Fisher the next day and copied Hieftje, plus her fellow Ward Four rep Marcia Higgins, city administrator Steve Powers, and interim public services administrator Craig Hupy. Two weeks later, Hupy sent Fisher a four-page letter describing exactly how the March 15 storm sent Malletts Creek into her basement.