The big flood, and my emergency fund ark
Posted
Dec 05 2007, 11:34 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Heavy rain flooded half my North Seattle block on Monday. After a dozen chaotic hours -- eight of them without power -- at the apartment building I manage, I really, really did not want to sleep on a Red Cross cot.
Yet another reason to have an emergency fund: a hotel room with privacy and unlimited hot water.
Sure, I could have bunked at the emergency shelter. I chose not to do so. Choice is one of the luxuries that an EF affords us.
Fleeing stress
By the time the city declared our building uninhabitable, I was on the ragged edge. Asthma squeezed my airway. My back ached. My head pounded.
In addition to the immediate threat, I felt several additional pressures: sociology paper due Thursday (half-finished when the juice went out and took my computer and notes with it), Spanish final exam coming up Saturday, my 50th birthday waiting in the wings. (It's today, so happy birthday to me, and can anyone tell me whether those AARP discounts are worth the membership?)
Entering the hotel room at 9:15 p.m. didn't transform me instantly. But a long, hot soak combined with absolute quiet -- no more grinding truck gears, shouts, sirens or tenant questions that I couldn't answer -- unclenched my jaws somewhat.
Tuesday morning we learned the floodwater had stopped halfway up our basement steps. Other buildings' residents were not so fortunate.
Hope for the best, plan for the worst
We couldn't have imagined flooding in our neighborhood, which is nowhere near a stream or lake. Yet it happened, and plenty of residents were financially unprepared. Some said they couldn't afford a hotel but they didn't want to stay in the shelter.
I hope you're never forced from your place by flood, fire or other disaster. But it could happen tomorrow. So get that fund established.
Maybe you feel you can't, because you're already living paycheck to paycheck. But likely there are ways to squeeze a few dollars from your budget. In time, they'll add up -- but only if you do the math.
Last December, my savings account held $30 and I had credit card debt related to my divorce. I would not have wanted to add to that debt by charging a hotel room. A year ago, I would flopped on that cot.
This year, I had a choice.
