Stormwater floods Macomb County animal shelter, sends agency scrambling to financially recover
A nonprofit animal shelter in Macomb County, Michigan, is struggling to recover from the cost of storm-related flooding at its shelter.
"To say we are heartbroken is an understatement," A ReJoyceful Animal Rescue in Clinton Township related on social media about the circumstances.
ReJoyceful focuses its efforts on cat and dog rescue situations, such as a cat that had significant injuries from another animal attack and stray dogs that were living outside amid the heat wave. The agency describes itself as a no-kill, foster-based organization, using short-term foster situations to help match animals to adoptive homes.
On June 18, the building was flooded through at least two rounds of storms backed up a storm drain and that sent water rushing inside the shelter, ruining supplies, furniture and equipment.
"We've worked so hard building up our shelter and making it comfortable for the animals we care for. In a matter of minutes, this was all destroyed," they said.
In response to the disaster:
- Volunteers showed up to help push water out of the building.
- A flood recovery and restoration company was called to mitigate damage.
- The agency posted messages on social media for foster homes and foster-to-adopt homes, taking note of circumstances such as which pets should continue to stay together and which ones need to be the only animal in a home.
- Donations and ad hoc fundraisers, such as a T-shirt sal,e popped up to help the agency return to normal operations.
- Over $125,000 in donations have been raised.
The community assistance is appreciated, as the insurance situation was not what they hoped for.
The building itself is covered by the property owner's insurance; the agency is responsible for its own contents. The agency did have a renters' insurance policy, but ran into an exception on the policy that does not include certain water conditions. "Our insurance claim has been denied. There is nothing we can do," they explained.
As of Thursday, the building is almost completely dried out, but there is still work and sanitizing to do.
"We have contractors coming tomorrow to start on drywall, replace doors, replace trim, and to determine what more needs done. We are still in the process of sorting through what has been destroyed and needs to be dumped. The losses are immeasurable, we still don't have a number on how much this will actually cost us in the end as we're not even half way through sorting through the mess," the agency reported.
