A gaping hole where the basement used to be is what Mike Zabawa and his relatives found when they arrived at his 94-year-old aunt's Omaha home at 9 a.m. on October 1. Floodwaters from Little Papio Creek had torn through the foundation, filling the basement with debris, mud and standing water, and leaving the house where Celianne La Rosa, known to family as Aunt Cici, has lived for nearly 50 years uninhabitable.
The flash flooding slammed into the Elmwood Gardens neighborhood near Elmwood Park in late September, according to KETV, sending creek water gushing into homes and washing out the foundation of Cici's house. The station reports that the plumbing, electrical and mechanical systems inside will all need to be replaced before the property is livable again, let alone sellable.
Cici has been staying at a rehabilitation facility while dealing with health issues and, per the family's account, does not know the full extent of the damage to the home she has lived in for decades, a detail reported by KMTV 3 News Now. The outlet, citing reporter Lexie Breymeyer, notes that the roughly 1,000-square-foot home once hosted Cici's annual Easter celebrations, gatherings that for decades drew 30 to 40 family members under one roof.
A Sale Plan Upended by Floodwater
Before the storm hit, Mike and his wife Paula, Cici's niece, were already preparing to sell the house and use the proceeds to move Cici into an assisted living facility, KETV reports. The flood didn't just damage a home; it knocked out the financial plan the family had built around it. Nearly a month after the flooding, construction at the property remains in its early phase, according to the 3 News Now report.
Mike has said the family's goal now is to restore the home's pre-flood value so it can still fund Cici's future long-term care, per the same account. The work so far includes stabilizing the structure and gutting the basement down to the walls and ceiling, according to People, with relatives now rebuilding the foundation wall and planning replacements for the HVAC, plumbing and electrical systems.
Cost Estimates Vary, and Insurance Won't Cover It
Just how much the repairs will cost depends on who you ask. KETV reports the restoration needed to make the home sellable will run into the tens of thousands of dollars, while People reports the damage is expected to cost more than $50,000 to repair, adding that La Rosa's home insurance does not cover flooding. The family has launched a GoFundMe fundraiser for repairs, with KETV reporting the Zabawas set a goal of $50,000, separate from the independent fundraising effort the family has also started.
Mike has said simply that the family is restoring the home for Cici, with plans to sell it once its value is restored to help pay for her long-term care. The article detailing their effort, published by 3 News Now, is described as a developing story.
Part of a Much Larger Flood Recovery
Cici's house is one of dozens caught up in flooding that hit the Omaha area hard. In the West Papio Creek area, water rose more than 22 feet in less than two hours, according to WOWT, which reported that damage across Douglas and Sarpy counties was initially estimated at about $13.1 million. More recent damage assessments have exceeded $23 million, according to the Nebraska Examiner, which reported that at least 25 homes or businesses in Douglas County were damaged and that uninsured losses reached at least 40 percent.
The scale of the flooding led to widespread disruption beyond La Rosa's block. WOWT reported that the flooding initially knocked out gas service to 123 homes, with 73 still without service at the time of its update, and that Omaha firefighters rescued or assisted about 60 people and several pets near 62nd and J streets, where water reached 6 to 8 feet. Two homes in the Karen Addition were closed because of what officials called dangerous conditions, the station reported.
Other residents described the same terrifying speed with which the water arrived. KETV reported that Katie Vitukinas saw two feet of water fill her basement, rising past the electrical outlets, while Billy Richards said the flooding destroyed an entire basement wall and that, “the insurance ain't going to pay for it, so it's going to be out-of-pocket expense,” leaving his house uninhabitable until repairs were finished. Rylee White told the station her basement bedroom was completely submerged within 15 minutes of the water starting to rise.
