UPDATE: Ashland area evacuees talk about struggles of flood aftermath

UPDATE:

Jessica Wittmuss and Nathan Alexander live in Linoma Beach, which is right across the river from Ashland.

They said they fled their home when water started rising.

“We packed a few clothes and went to my parents and the next day the water was just up going higher and higher until that Saturday,” Jessica said.

They said they’re currently staying with family, but they can’t get back into Linoma Beach because of the water, mud and sinkholes.  They said their home is still standing, but that the structure is unstable from the flood and they don’t know if they can ever get their belongings from it.

“The dangers of going up there for more than an hour or two would be bad,” Nathan said.

Jessica said she’s going through this after already saving her possessions from a fire last August.

“It just brought all those feelings back from doing that,” she said.  “And I saved it all, it’s up in my house right now.  I just feel like destroyed and frustrated with the fact that I did that…I worked hard for that stuff.”

They also said many of the lake developments have been destroyed.

Sen. Ben Sasse visited the area Friday.

“You got a whole bunch of people who’ve lived here for generations,” Sasse said.  “You have people pulling together, neighbor helping neighbor, trying to figure out where do they go to spend their time and energy.  Our people aren’t watching TV and playing video games.  They’re getting out in their vehicles and saying ‘which neighbor is in need?  Let me go there.'”

Sasse said FEMA is currently surveying damage across the state, but that recovery will take time.

Nathan and Jessica said everyone in the area knows this will take awhile.  They said Ashland is strong and people are doing whatever they can to help out the community.

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Now that the flood waters have gone down, people are seeing more of the damage done in the Ashland area.

Jessica Wittmuss and Nathan Alexander live in Linoma Beach, which is right across the river from Ashland.  They said they fled their home last week when waters started rising.

“We packed a few clothes and went to my parents and the next day the water was just up going higher and higher until that Saturday,” Jessica said.

They said they’re currently staying with family, but they can’t get back into Linoma Beach because of the water, mud and sinkholes.

They said their home is still standing, but that the structure is unstable from the flood.  They said they don’t know if they can ever get their belongings from it.

They said the experience has been emotional for them.

“In these kinds of situations, I’m used to helping,” Nathan said.  “But having to go through it myself, to get the help, to ask people for things, it brings up a lot of anxiety.”

They also said many of the lake developments have been destroyed.