This is "KITTY" my 1976 Camaro RS. 375 cranking HP. 350 CID. Super T10 4speed with a 10 bolt posi rear with 4:11's.

9/22

Kitty...I think Kitty passed away during the flooding of my home. I will try to get the insurance company to let me keep her and if so, I will have to totally rebuild her from the ground up.

US.....Although we lost all our furniture and almost all of our personal possesions, we were able to save almost all our clothes and dishes.

We are staying in the apartment above ours (my in-laws apartment) until they can make our apartmant inhabitable again. (We have an estimated move back in time of about a month).

We would like to again express how lucky we feel to have so many people offer help & their support during this period of our lives. We are overwhelmed with peoples generosity. There are many things we will need to replace and as soon as we are ready to move back into our apartment, we will have a much better idea of exactly what we saved and what was lost. Everything was just thrown into store all boxes while cleaning out our apartment. Today (we hope) will be the last day of throwing our stuff away. We have made tremendous progress in emptying 20 years of accumulation of stuff out of our apartment.

We got in touch with FEMA finally last night and have begun the process of applying for a loan to help with our losses.

Phil

9/23

Today we finish cleaning out the last of our belongings from the apartment.

Also we will be registering with the red cross.

Phil

9/24

red cross is giving us vouchers to cover food until we get back in our apartment.....also a coat for mark and shoes for all of us as all ours we ...on the floor...I dont think we will EVER put anything on the floor ever again unless it is hermetically sealed...lol         we finish cleaning out sometime today for sure...it is so tiring and disheartening to throw away everything near and dear to us be we will survive.

phil

9/25

Here are some pics of our area after the water receded a foot or 2...

CLICK ON THE PICTURE TO ENLARGE

9/26....

The cleanup is neverending. Only a few things left now. Soon as everyone requested, I will make some kind of list of needed items. It is really hard to tell what we need exactly at this point because we are living out of bags and everything we are not using at the moment is packed up in boxes in storage.

We are all doing well but very very tired. The stress level cant be imagined but we will get through this with the help of our family and friends.

By the way...the room guy, "John0361" wrote me this letter.....

I'm truly sorry for the way I reacted to your devastation. My head was in my ass for a few days. I don't know where my lack of compassion came from. I do apologize for what I said and if there is anything I can do please let me know.
I'm a landscaper and handy with my hands.
I also have a truck and some men, so if you need a hand cleaning up, let me know.
Again please forgive me.
John

John...I don't know you but can understand that people react to stress in many different ways. Sometimes 1st impressions are wrong due to factors we dont know. We both lost much...Perhaps one day we can meet at one of the parties and get to know each other and maybe even become friends.

Phil

11/3/99....

Still staying with the in laws.....The landlady has done everything possible to keep from repairing the damaged apartments in my complex.(correctly).

No work has been done at all to our apartment.

6-8 months seems like about when we may be able to move back in again.

I got Kitty started and am waiting until my insurance co looks at her one more time before I store her in my friends garage so I can start working on her.

We had to get another mattress like our old one (the donated one was like sleeping on a rock)LOLOL.

We have been given a Living room and Dining room set as well as a bedroom set!!!!Thanx Chris & Ruthie & PK & Lou.

More to come.......

11/24.....

Well....here it is the day before Thanksgiving! We are nowhere even close to being able to move back into our apartment. They have yet to begin even working on it or any of the other 29 apartments in our complex that were flooded.

We have heard from the Small Business Administration that we will probably qualify to get a low interest loan to help partially replace what we lost. (Red cross only covered 2 weeks of food by the way). Even though at one point I got Kitty restarted...something in her engine is banging like a hammer on an anvil. We are still staying with my in-laws and will be celebrating thanksgiving there.

Christmas is coming soon...trying to become excited about it is very hard. Even our tree and ornaments were ruined.

I'm sure someday I will look back on this time and be amazed that we even got through it at all. Many who have known me a long time know that I am not the same person.....this kind of tragedy does something to you inside.

Well for those that are still actually reading this...

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

Dont just devour that turkey, take time to really think about all you have to be thankful for.

more soon...

Phil

12/12....Well they have informed us that work will begin on the damaged apartments about dec 20th...when ours will start...who knows..

1/26/00....Its been awhile since I updated...I wonder if anyone reads this saga any longer...if you are reading, please shoot me a quick note & tell me......

Well xmas was nice...a little cramped but nice. My inlaws provided their tree and we used our decorations. Everyone was pleased with what santa brought.

About 12 days ago, a huge work crew...1 guy    showed up and began demolition on our apartment..ripped out floors and kitchen....then left...

It seems that the "work crew" will be doing 1 stage on each of the destroyed apartments at a time.......

So.....it will certainly be quite awhile before we get back in...I estimate 3-4 more months.....

feb 29-2000....

The inspectors gave the complex a new CO for our apartment!!!!!

march 4-2000.....I have been working like a nut, trying to get the already painted walls into decent shape and then repainting them properly. I am 1/2 way done as of today and hope to be finished painting by tuesday. Our cat is finally back home and purring like crazy...next week we will get our birds back home too! It looks like we will be living in the apartment again in about 1 & 1/2 weeks if all goes well!!!!!! YEAHHHHHHHH

Oct 8-2000...amazing how time passes...we have been back for months....celebrated? the 1 year anniversary of the flooding...our birthdays...anniversary...and still are not back 100% to normal. but at least we arent living out of boxes anymore, and have replaced 98% of our furniture.

I have been concentrating on the last member of our family for the last 3 months...Kitty!. I removed Kittys engine & trans....discovered that the "knock" was in fact a block cracked in 2 places...I located a good used block & went through finding a builder to rebuild her engine. Her trans had some damaged bearings so I had that all rebuilt. Since the engine & trans were out of the way, I decided to clean up her engine compartment which needed the attention very badly. This "cleaning" ended up continuing inch by inch...past the engine compartment, into the trans tunnel...under the body...and through the woods....

the interior floor has been stripped to bare metal and i found several pin holes and 2 larger holes...but nothing serious...

I ordered new carpeting, padding and an engine wiring harness from classic.

Before those are installed I will have the few tiny holes welded.

In stripping out her old carpet & padding, I noticed the inner rocker panels, which screw on, were really in bad shape....actually the only real rust on the entire car! After trying to locate a good used pair...and calling & looking through parts catalogs to no avail, I decided to make my own....this time out of galvanized steel so they will be much less likely to rust!

They came out SO good, that I may try selling a set or 2 on ebay! They are virtually identical to originals!

My trans is ready...the engine is supposed to be ready monday and if all goes well, they both should be in their proper places sometime on monday.

Hopefully with the help of Nova Greg, and Charlie, I will have her running again by wednesday!

HERE ARE MORE PICS OF THE PROCESS>>CLICK ON THE PICTURE TO ENLARGE IT>>>>

well kitty

Woodward Dream Cruise 2004

These pics were taken at the dream cruise!