Flood victim now calls tragedy ‘best thing that ever happened to us’
By Mike Ramczyk
Staff Writer
It’s been one year since the fateful day that changed Nicole Gramhofer’s life.
The former Wisconsin Street resident had the Fox River in her backyard, and when eight inches of rain deluged the Burlington area in just 12 hours on July 12, 2017, the river seemed to keep rising and showed no signs of stopping.
All the way into Gramhofer’s basement, home and garage.
When the damage was assessed at the rental home – including rotted-out hardwood floors in the living spaces and the loss of all furniture and some appliances – the price tag was out of control.
Gramhofer’s family lost approximately $20,000 worth of valuables, including 14 years of her relationship’s shared photos, memories, heirlooms and personal belongings, she said.
They also lost cars and equipment and supplies Gramhofer’s fiancé needed for his business.
It was the emotional wreckage that had Gramhofer on the edge, desperate for answers as she contemplated a homeless future a year ago.
“How do you pick yourself up from something like this?” she asked in an interview with the Standard Press in front of her home, while preparing to relocate to her brother’s house with her two children, then-fiancé and two dogs. “I’m lost, and I feel like I’m on autopilot.”
On July 11, Gramhofer said her family is doing well one year later.
In the past year, she and her fiancé married, and they no longer live with relatives.
Thanks to the BCF and Red Cross, and the perseverance to stay positive in the darkest of times, things turned around from Gramhofer and her family.
They were able to buy a house on Lewis Street in Burlington and were lucky enough to get what she described as a “hell of a deal” from the seller, considering her dire circumstances.
“The flood was the best thing that ever happened to us,” Gramhofer said. “We are homeowners now. It’s really, really good.”
Gramhofer said a grant from the Burlington Community Fund – a local non-profit organization dedicated to improving the Burlington area by funneling proceeds from Veteran’s Terrace back into the community – provided a grant that enabled her family to regroup.
The money was used toward a down payment on her current home.
To read the full story and see an additional photo of the devastation to Gramhofer’s previous residence, pick up a copy of the July 19 edition of the Standard Press.
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