A year later, flooded Foothill couple offers thanks

Before the Tonopah low, or the big snowmelt that turned Double Spring Flat into a lake, a thunderstorm sent nearly 300 cubic yards of decomposed granite into the back of a home above Foothill Road.

Friday marked the anniversary of the Aug. 4, 2022, deluge that slammed into the back of Larry and Casey Braun’s home, burying their yard.

It was the second storm in two days, and it brought an estimated 5-6 inches of rain to Fay Canyon above the Braun’s home.

The same deluge washed out Highway 89 between Woodfords and Markleeville, isolating the town for a third summer in a row.

The Brauns' back yard still contains a great deal of the sand that flowed down the hill. The inset is the deer sign on Aug. 6, 2022.

 

But on Wednesday, the Brauns talked about how thankful they are to a community that rallied to help them and to be back in their home of 19 years.

“I just can’t thank enough people,” Casey said. “There was a lot going on. I really want to thank this community. Everyone in the community contributed something.”

Larry was in his shop when the flood started as a trickle.

“I watched the whole thing,” said Larry, who works from home. “I was here all day.”

Larry watched as the trickle became a torrent and started flowing under the roll-up door to the shop.

He closed the door to the rest of the house and put towels along the bottom to try and stem the flow, but those towels were not going to stand up to the flow.

“It kept coming and then, ‘boom,’ the big one,” Casey said.

Neighbor Rick Firkin helped dig the Brauns house out so they could get in and start shoveling. A small tractor was able to get into Larry’s shop to help clear the debris out. The Brauns were out of the house until just after Thanksgiving.  They stayed with Rick and Annette Firkin while cleaning up the house.

“Thank god for the community and everything,” Larry said. “They helped us get back into the house.”

The fifth-wheel parked in back of the house bore the brunt of the flooding.

“That fifth-wheel stopped everything,” Casey said.

The fifth-wheel and a boat trailer ended up going to the dump, arranged by friend Jeff Pisciotta, who helped them dig it out.

“It was full of mud,” Casey said. “We’re just now finding things that we didn’t know were gone.”

Swede Excavation and Terry at Equipment Share helped out.

Friend Danielle Wulstein and Testa Motorsports Jackie and Rob Taylor conducted online and in-person fundraisers. Jackson Drywall pitched in to help replacing the drywall. While possessing what has been called the best view in the Valley, the Brauns actually live in Alpine County just over the state line. Casey said Alpine County came through with some funding, supporting the recovery.

It didn’t hurt that the house withstood the deluge structurally and was cleared by Alpine’s building inspector.

One of Casey’s big concerns was whether it could happen again.

A geological engineer examined area above their home and Casey said he concluded it was an extremely rare storm.

“He looked at every tree ring and rock and he thinks it was a 1,000-year storm,” Casey said. “That’s the only reason I sleep at night.

They got a fright a month later when the first of the big storms sent more material down the canyon. Then in February, all the shoveling caught up with Larry, who’s 79, and he had to have shoulder surgery.

There’s still around 800 cubic yards of material in their back yard, Larry estimated, and a lot of hard work to do.

“The first night we got to sit out, and I was just ‘Thank god, we are still here, and I’m not leaving,’” Casey said. “Every day when we sit out (front), we go ‘this is home.’”