Two months ago today, flood waters invaded and destroyed homes, businesses, belongings and lives.

For those not directly affected, the disaster may now be merely a memory, but for the victims, it has been an ongoing nightmare with no end in sight.

	Bob Donalson, Post-Gazette Barbara Knierim wonders how long it will take to repair the hole in the foundation of her flood-damaged Millvale home after the Sept. 17 flood which filled the basement and flooded the first floor. Humidifiers and fans still run around the clock, removing moisture from the house. Click photo for larger image. Related article Where to get help, where to give it

"Everything's cleaned up, all the trash is gone, and people don't see it anymore," said Melissa Shea, 28, now living in Reserve after her rented Millvale home was destroyed Sept. 17 by flooding from the remnants of Hurricane Ivan. "It's almost like it never happened."

But Shea, a second-year nursing student, is still deeply affected by the flood, which claimed a lifetime of possessions and nearly killed her two dogs.

"I left for work that morning, not realizing that I wouldn't have a house to come home to," she said, recalling how some of her belongings had floated into the front yard.

Alerted that afternoon by her sister that Millvale was having "water issues," Shea rushed home just in time to wade through the swirling water and save her two small dogs, one of which was in a crate and within inches of being submerged.

"I worked 15 minutes from my house, and it took me three hours to get home, but I had to get my pets. I parked on Route 28 and started walking. My jaw dropped at seeing nine feet of water in the streets of Millvale and, at one point, I was neck deep in it. I've never been so hysterical in my life."

Still reeling from her losses, Shea is nevertheless grateful that her dogs survived, and she credits several local agencies with helping her to get back on her feet. She said she is overwhelmed by the help she has received from the American Red Cross, Salvation Army, North Hills Community Outreach, neighbors, friends and family.

"I can't even explain how wonderful it was," she said. "If it hadn't been for each and every person who helped me from the beginning to now, I wouldn't have been able to do it. They all need to be thanked."

Despite having lost her car, schoolbooks and laptop computer, in addition to a lifetime of mementos, Shea considers herself lucky because she has a new place to live. "Many don't realize that there are people still being severely affected by this flood."

Fay Morgan realizes it.

"We've had 500 families ask for our help so far, and we get new calls every day," said Morgan, director of North Hills Community Outreach, based in Hampton. As winter approaches, she said, helping people return to their homes is becoming more urgent.

"I had someone say, 'I'll bet you're glad it's over,' but there's still money to be raised, and people still living in temporary houses," Morgan said. "If it's not you, it's hard to realize that it's still going on. There are still people out of their homes, still without a vehicle or heat and not knowing how it's going to be resolved."

Amy Ed handles client intake for Hosanna Industries Inc., a nonprofit ministry that has provided home renovation and new construction for low-income, elderly and single-parent households since 1990.

"We normally repair 100 homes a year, but since the flood, we're trying to help 500 families in a year plus still do our normal repair projects," Ed said. "You wouldn't believe how many people are living in homes that are condemned. Our phones haven't stopped ringing."

Using volunteers and a core group of paid mission workers who are skilled in construction, Hosanna regularly builds 10 homes per year with a budget of $1 million, but Ed said the additional load will cost well above $2 million. "We still have to raise over $1 million to meet those needs."

Recognized as front-line agencies in response to the crisis, North Hills Community Outreach and Hosanna Industries were chosen by the Vira I. Heinz Endowment to each receive $100,000 grants to support their recovery work.

"The endowment wanted to respond quickly to the devastation caused by the flooding," said Marge Petruska, endowment program director. "We wanted to provide direct assistance, so we looked at agencies that had exemplary track records of reaching out to communities to do this recovery work, and those two agencies really rose to the top of the list."

She said the grants are a first step in what will be a long-term effort to help Allegheny County families and business owners rebuild.

"The Salvation Army and the American Red Cross were very good at handling the immediate response, but then there's the more long-term individual-by-individual recovery needs," Petruska said. North Hills Community Outreach and Hosanna Industries "are most capable to meet this next level of response," she said.

	Bob Donaldson, Post-Gazette Amid donated furniture in the living room, Susan Williams, of the St. Margaret Foundation, talks with Elmer Knierim in his home on Lincoln Avenue in Millvale. The foundation is helping the Knierims, who lost everything in the Sept. 17 flood when water in the first floor of their home rose to the window sill. Click photo for larger image.

Elmer and Barbara Knierim have lived in their Millvale home on Lincoln Avenue for the past 58 years. They live on the first floor and their son, Edward, lives on the second floor. When a wall of water forced the couple to flee Sept. 17, they could take only the shirts on their backs, their pet canary and Barbara Knierim's purse, which contained medication.

"We saw water rushing down the street with such force, it was like an ocean was coming at us, and in the next moment, the street was flooded," recalled Elmer Knierim, 84. "It was very scary."

When water started pouring into the basement, Barbara Knierim, 86, began bringing items up to the first floor. But it was to no avail. Everything was lost.

Elmer Knierim has health problems that restrict him from doing heavy labor, so Barbara Knierim has been scrubbing floors, washing windows and painting walls amid the constant whir of fans and dehumidifiers, but the house still smells musty.

"There's so much to do, I don't know if it will ever get done," she said.

The St. Margaret Foundation, which works to help senior citizens stay healthy, socially engaged and in their homes, is helping the Knierims by providing electricians and plumbers and having their walls tested for moisture. Some large items were located for the couple through agencies including North Hills Community Outreach, Network of Hope of Sharpsburg and St. Vincent DePaul, while other agencies, such as Salvation Army and Millvale's community center, helped to feed and clothe the couple immediately after the flood.

But others still need help. "We need more people to volunteer and help out other folks like this," said Arthur Scully, director of the St. Margaret Foundation. "When the news media moves onto a different story, it takes the spotlight off of this, but the needs don't go away."

Even with the help, the Knierims are not yet back on their feet. Always hard-working and self-sufficient -- Elmer Knierim drove a tractor-trailer for 35 years -- they're devastated by the irreplaceable loss of his WWII photo albums and his 1930s baseball book collection. Barbara Knierim's best dishes are sitting atop the kitchen counter until the couple can locate a china closet.

Their losses weren't covered by insurance. They received some funding through the Federal Emergency Management Agency, but it won't be enough to cover all of their expenses. Barbara Knierim lists items the couple still need, including living room, bedroom and kitchen furniture and linens.

"We have to dig through bags to get dressed in the morning," she said.

The Knierims aren't alone.

"This issue is duplicated all through Millvale, Etna, parts of Shaler, Carnegie and Tarentum," Scully said, "but we're focusing in our own back yard and committing ourselves to the next 12 to 18 months of helping these people get back on their feet."

Because UPMC St. Margaret, near Aspinwall, employs many people in the surrounding communities, Scully said, the foundation feels a sense of responsibility toward its neighbors.

"At the hospital, we immediately collected all the items people need for daily living. Then the foundation board met and decided they would pledge $250,000 to the flood relief. It's by far the biggest grant we've ever made since our inception in 1986, but it's the most devastating thing anyone can remember happening to this community," Scully said.

The foundation provided $100,000 to North Hills Community Outreach. To date, the agency has received $570,000 from several foundations, and Morgan said it hopes to raise $1 million for flood victims. It also is working to attract volunteers and individual donors to come up with furniture and manpower as well as funds.

	Bob Donaldson, Post-Gazette Barbara Knierim helps Dave Cornish, of Masterwork Paint Centers, as he prepares floors for carpeting in her flood-damaged Millvale home. Click photo for larger image.

Morgan said FEMA grants have been few and far between. "The absolute most a family can receive is $25,000, and that would be a low-income family that lived in a big expensive house and lost a lot of stuff. The highest amount received that I've heard of was $1,600."

She noted that the government is paying for road and bridge repair, fire stations and railroad tracks damaged by flooding. "I think you really have to depend on neighbors to help neighbors, and businesses to help businesses. Businesses don't get any money at all from the government, just a low-interest loan. They may have a loan already for equipment they lost, but they still owe. We've helped a handful already and will do more."

Michelle Metzger, of Etna, never dreamed that she'd have to face the loss of her possessions in a flood.

"I heard about the flood in '86, but I didn't think it would happen again," said Metzger, 28, a single mother. "A couple of weeks before the flood, I woke up to fire sirens and someone talking on a megaphone that they were doing voluntary evacuations because they thought it was going to flood, but we were fine. I put everything back in the basement after that. I thought people were panicking on the 17th."

Because she rents, Metzger received no money from FEMA. "They told me that I had insufficient losses. Like everything I had worked my entire life for meant nothing. That was a huge slap in the face, and I now have to start from scratch."

The experience, however, has had a positive aspect for Metzger. "The love and generosity that I felt from all the people I never even met before who put themselves out for me was the most overwhelming experience. They genuinely made me feel loved," said Metzger, adding that her neighbors offered to help care for her 2-year-old daughter while she focused on cleanup after the flood. "This is a time of sharing and a time to help each other. My neighbors were going through the same thing, but they wanted to make sure Lauren was OK. That meant so much to me."

After seeking help from several false leads, Metzger finally called North Hills Community Outreach, and she was welcomed with open arms.

"This Thanksgiving, I will be thankful for all of the people who allowed me to become close to them," said Metzger, noting that the outreach agency allowed her to ask for help and keep her dignity at the same time.

"Now I want to give back the way they have given to me," she said. "We all take our turn and that's what it's about. It takes something like this to realize how important your turn is to someone you don't even know."