After losing everything, Pond residents to receive new homes
Jul. 10—POND — When Sherry Mitchell and her family first migrated to a tiny cul-de-sac here in the 1980s, she moved into a trailer in front of her father's driveway. Mitchell, now married and with children grown, still lives in a trailer, parked in her own driveway next door.
"It's been months of living in my own driveway," Mitchell said. "We have our suitcases, our medications and a roof over our heads but I mean, this is it."
Mitchell, her family, and some residents of Pond have since March been displaced. Their town was among the estimated billion dollars in damage wrought by winter storms upon California and its many communities.
It was March 11 when Poso Creek, 6 miles away, overran its levee southeast of the town and sent muddy water gushing through streets and fields. Cities including Delano and the east side of McFarland were swamped, as neighborhoods evacuated and shelters were erected.
Months later, rural communities like Pond are still struggling to recover. Videos from March shared by residents depict a neighborhood that looked like a lagoon. Ruined furniture, debris and keepsakes, waterlogged yet irreplaceable, floated in the same trash pile.
While the floodwaters have receded, damaged homes are still stripped back to their studs. But by the end of the month, Mitchell and her family expect to move back in.
God's Pit Crew, a Virginia-based nonprofit, announced Monday it plans to finish renovations to four homes in the neighborhood, including three owned by her family, by the end of the month.
"There were four families that really didn't have a clear picture, or line of sight in how they were going to put their homes back together," said Chris Chiles, the immediate disaster response coordinator for God's Pit Crew.
The crew originally came in March for 10 days, to gut homes and clear away debris. Its members, currently eight strong, rely on a mix of volunteers who flew in from across the country, and a handful of professionals to take on the more technical work. Volunteers with St. John's Lutheran Church are also assisting.
Despite the rising cost of building materials, Chiles said that all materials have been pre-purchased for the four homes through various grants and donations. He and his crew made it clear they plan to finish on schedule. As of Monday, crews began installing insulation and drywall before they are to handle sheetrock, painting, walls, flooring and appliances.
"We'll get it done," Chiles said. "It looks daunting but we have three weeks with a bunch of people, so I feel good."
And while she appreciates God's Pit Crew, Mitchell feels a mix of anger and confusion about why the flood happened, saying that residents were given only a 20-minute notice from a Caltrans worker, who yelled to them from a nearby corner to clear out.
"He goes, 'Hey you guys better leave there, the water is coming,'" Mitchell said, posing the question: "How could all that water come this far?"
Afterward, she and other residents applied for relief from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, which honored the applications with small grants, usually between $3,000 and $14,000.
