Well... that was fun while it lasted.

darthphunk

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Location
Scio, Oregon
So in the Pacific Northwest, we've been having a pretty dry January... until this week.

We've been inundated with snow and rain. Everything all at once caused a perfect storm which caused major flooding in my area. My house is right on the banks of Mill Creek, but the last major flood was in 1996, and before that was 1964 ... so this was totally unexpected.

I got up at 7:30 to get my kids ready for school. I noticed the creek was pretty high and moving fast. I drank my coffee and took my kids to school. I went home and looked at the creek and it was much higher. I flipped on the news and saw that a town near me had been completely shut down due to flooding. I called my wife and told her to come home from work. I called my brother in law and asked him to come help me get sandbags. I then called OregonArcade to see if he could come help if things got out of hand. I had another cup of coffee and watched the creek get higher and higher. My brother in law arrived and we went to go get some sandbags. We went to the door, opened it, and saw a huge wave of water come crashing toward my house. I alerted my wife to go to the basement to move items away from the windows while I went to get Sandbags. While I was gone, OregonArcade arrived to help out my wife and diver the water to the sump pump.

I came with only 4 sandbags because they ran out before we got there. We blocked the windows, and began making a makeshift retaining wall with some cinder blocks we had.

After fighting to keep the water out for hours, it became apparent that we were fighting a losing battle, and needed to start saving items. We started with personal items and important things... then we moved to arcades. With the help of OregonArcade, Gozer, and lots of family and other friends... we were able to get all of the games out and safe to another location.

My house has no structural damage, and the main floor is pretty unscathed although we'll likely need to replace carpet, and hardwood in another room. My washer and dryer, furnace and hot water heater are dead. A good deal of personal items in the basement are a loss... as is my arcade space.

Here are some before and after pics:

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My family is safe. We have insurance. I'll rebuild... eventually.
 
Man that sucks. At least you got the games out. I've been stuck on the coast for the last week and a half due to the weather.
 
Wholly crap, that is depressing, family is most important, you can replace the rest..godspeed..
 
That is crazy! The before and after pictures make it look like everything was washed away.
Sorry to hear, but glad you got saved what you could.
 
Kudos to you for being so upbeat with the right attitude..I know I had some water issues...nothing like that... very early in my arcade collecting days and I learned my lesson and had everything I could done after that to prevent it from happening again...fortunately I don't live in flood plain..I'm actually up on hill/higher ground above flood plains so my issue was just having proper drainage for rain water for those heavy storms that last four hours...the previous owners removed an awning that was needed and did some other stupid things that I took care and it took care of water..never had another issue again.

Anytime you have rivers or creeks near you that is always going to be a threat..

Nice to have family and friends to help...

I wish you luck in your rebuild...I know its not much...but when you rebuild..I have one single piece of Pacmania sideart left over from the repro I did...if your piece is ruined and you want to duplicate the artwork on the bar... its yours for the price of shipping to help you get going again...:D

Good Luck.
 
Man to say "that sucks" is an understatement.
Awesome that you had enough guys to help save your cabs and valuables. Glad you and the family are ok....By the looks of your bar that looks like nearly 3' of standing water....How much ended up down there?
 
Glad you and the family are ok. Stay positive and build everything bigger and better.

Good to see fellow klovers helping each other out.
 
Wow does that suck, I had that happen at our house... we like you were able to save all of our important stuff. I did not have the help to move the games up, so I basically had to put them on top of tables and chairs. Not fun. Hopefully the insurance will cover your loses and you'll be back better than ever!
 
I was expecting when this thread started that some of your games got it. I was almost afraid to scroll down. So good to hear that they made it! Hopefully your insurance will cover the water damage. It could have been a lot worse.
 
Holy CRAP! :004_scry: But as long as you and the family are OK, you will survive and hopefully (in a long time from now) laugh about this, somehow... I hope.
"Humor=tragedy+time." Woody Allen
 
Damn. Been waiting to see the after pics. When we pulled out the last arcade cab the water was standing about 9 inches high. The wood floor planks had all began to lift and float around, making carrying heavy loads out pretty precarious. There were a few games that were in standing water until we could get them up the stairs.
Basically, by the time I got there, Oregonarcade was already performing battlefield triage, assessing which games would suffer the greatest if left in water. The pinball and the juke were the last ones out, but a minty Satans Hollow was the last vid out. He had thrown it up on its back on the bar to keep it dry until we could get it out. At the time it went up, about 3-4 inches of water was on the ground. It couldnt go on the dolly thru the water, so we had to carry it over and up by hand.

Just glad darthphunk didnt have a Demolition Derby down there. Lol.
 
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