Friends, family help Davenport woman rebuild

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By Tory Brecht | Wednesday, June 25, 2008 |

Harvest Westerfield leaves his 3rd shift job every morning and helps his mom, Cynthia Westerfield, repair her damaged basement after the June 12 flash floods caused a wall to collapse. (Jeff Cook/QUAD-CITY TIMES) Buy this Photo

For someone with a gaping 35-foot hole where her basement wall used to be and a house full of mud, Cynthia Westerfield of Davenport is pretty upbeat.

It’s not because government — either local, state or federal — rushed to help her after the back half of her house collapsed during torrential rains June 12.

In fact, Westerfield is still trying to wade through the confusion of a Federal Emergency Management Agency assistance application and a denial of coverage from her insurance company.

But a steady stream of her children, neighbors, relatives and friends have worked day after day, from dawn to dusk, to help her rebuild.

Nearly two weeks later, it’s still hard to see the result of all the hard work. On Tuesday, her son, Harvest, and brother, Gary, shoveled goopy mud out of the basement into the waiting scoop of a backhoe rented by her friend and across-the-street neighbor, Curtis Lewis.

Shovel by shovel, muddy inch by muddy inch, her home at 1827 Kirkwood Blvd., was being put back together.

“I want to stay here,” she said. “With the help of my neighbors and friends, I will. They say it will be done.”

Westerfield said any kind of official help was slow in coming. First, her insurance company declined her claim, classifying the wall collapse as “water seepage.” Then, her online FEMA application was denied, perhaps because her home is not in any flood plain.

Last week, Davenport firefighters put yellow caution tape around the house and declared it uninhabitable. On Tuesday, however, a city inspector stopped by and praised the work Westerfield’s helpers had done, including installing about 15 wood braces to hold up the south end of the house.

The house sustained about $15,000 in damage, but Westerfield feels lucky to be uninjured. She was on the steps leading to the basement, watching water pour in around cracks in the brick wall, when she heard “a crackling noise.”

Moments later, mud and brick crashed onto the floor, destroying her washer and dryer and a basement refrigerator and freezer.

“It was scary,” she said “I was just in tears.”

She’s been buoyed by the support of the neighborhood. Recently, the Rev. Andrew Mayes of the nearby Progressive Baptist Church gave a donation to cover the cost of renting the backhoe.

“Everyone has been helping out,” she said.

Similar stories can be found across the Quad-Cities.

As of the close of business on Monday, 119 individuals and businesses in Scott County had registered for federal assistance, said Brian Crain, a spokesman for FEMA working in Des Moines. The Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency has asked for potential locations for a disaster recovery center to be established in Scott County.

FEMA advises individuals who need disaster assistance to first contact their personal insurance carriers before registering with the agency. A homeowners policy may cover things like wind damage. Homeowners also may have a separate flood policy.

“Although it is not a requirement to contact your insurance agent first, it may speed up the assistance process,” according to a FEMA news release. “For persons who are eligible, FEMA can provide assistance with temporary lodging, food, clothing and some of the costs of making your home safe and livable again, but it cannot duplicate any insurance coverage.”

Tory Brecht can be contacted at (563) 383-2329 or tbrecht@qctimes.com.