SMU community members share flood stories

This is the fifth in a series of stories of SMU faculty and staff who have suffered serious damage because of recent flooding. We hope that these stories bring to light how many people, in how many areas, were deeply affected. Please continue to keep everyone who is fighting to put their lives back together in your prayers.
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Russ and Lynda Sobotta were in the process of moving into their new home in Sunny Acres three weeks before the flood. Most of their belongings weren’t yet unpacked.





The Sobottas had to purchase two new washers and dryers within two months.







Russ Sobotta
Saint Teresa grounds foreman
and maintenance engineer

Russ Sobotta was watching floodwaters rush by his Sunny Acres home in Minnesota City during the early morning hours of Sunday, Aug. 19. Through the flurry of excitement and activity, he noticed that one of this neighbor’s homes was still dark.

Afraid that the couple was asleep and in danger, Sobotta quickly called them.
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“I said, ‘If you guys are sleeping, you need to wake up right now and get dressed. We’re being evacuated. We’re flooding; look out your window, ’ ” he said.

Sobotta’s phone call came just in time. The couple, who had been asleep, ran to the basement, where their 18-month-old granddaughter was sleeping. By the time they reached her, floodwaters were already approaching her playpen.

“He figures that if I wouldn’t have called, his granddaughter would have been dead,” Sobotta said. “He cries and talks about it all the time.”

But Sobotta shies away from being labeled a hero. “Our neighbors were noticing (that the house was dark) and talking about it too. I may have made the phone call, but they deserve just as much of the credit.”

Sobotta had been up since 3:30 a.m. when his wife Lynda heard fire trucks cruising the neighborhood. He turned on the scanner and heard Stockton was evacuating. And then he heard a call for boats to Sunny Acres.

“I thought, ‘Boats to Sunny Acres; why do they need boats in Sunny Acres? I live in Sunny Acres.’ ”

Outside, he heard his neighbor — several months pregnant — call out to him for help; water was quickly rising in their home. “We kicked the fence down and got them up on our deck,” Sobotta said.

From their deck, the group watched cars and steps floating by in what Sobotta said looked like a river running down the street. It was then, at 5 a.m., just prior to being evacuated into boats, that everyone introduced themselves.

“We hadn’t even met these people yet,” Sobotta said. “We hadn’t been there long enough to meet our neighbors.”

Russ and Lynda had only moved into their new split-level home three weeks prior to the flood. In one of the saddest ironies, most of their belongings were still in boxes in the basement.

“We hadn’t even unpacked yet,” he said. “It all went into the dumpster. The only things we salvaged were things that were up high or that floated in a plastic tote. Our cardboard boxes were sitting on the basement floor where all the water and mud was.”

Sobotta estimates they had 2 feet of water and sewer backup and a few inches of mud on their bottom level. “We had to shovel it out pail by pail,” he said, leafing through a stack of photos. One photo contains his roll-top desk, which warped and had to be sawed in half with a chainsaw and put into the dumpster, along with all of their records and tax information.

Another shows a large pile of furniture discarded at the curb.

“It was a finished basement, but now it’s unfinished,” he said. “It is not going to be put back together for a long time. Many things won’t be replaced, because we can’t afford to replace them. We never even got a chance to use the furnace.”

But, Sobotta constantly counts his blessings: he said he is fortunate that his wife, and his German shepherd, Lexi, are safe; that they still have a home; and that his son, Jason ’04, has a successful new job.

He said they are fortunate because their home was higher on the lot, and their windows held out the majority of the water. Some of their neighbors weren’t as lucky. Out of 45 homes, he estimates only 12 families have moved back into neighborhood.

And they’re fortunate they’ve got a new furnace in the house as the temperatures are dropping. The couple received only $6,000 from FEMA and did not have flood insurance.

Six thousand dollars isn’t much when faced with reconstruction costs, as well as the costs associated with replacing all their belongings, including the furnace, air conditioner, hot water heater and washer and dryer.

“My wife is spoiled,” Sobotta said, laughing, “She got two new washer and dryer combos in two months. I get her a brand new pair every month.”

They’re fortunate to still be laughing.

“We’ve had a number of other bumps in the road,” Sobotta says, explaining that Lynda has recently battled breast cancer. She had been unable to work for a year and a half because of complications during treatment.

Sobotta never stops smiling, even when he explains that their previous home in Pickwick stayed perfectly dry.

But he admits that he misses his set of electric drums. He’s played for 15 or 16 years, and got a lot of joy out of his instruments.

But for now, it’s all about priorities. Replacing his drums isn’t at the top of his list.

“Maybe someday,” he says.