Hoping for help
Cindy Ragland, 59, hopes the Ozark County Long-Term Recovery Committee, which works to put flood survivors in touch with available government and charitable resouces, can help her find a way to rebuild her James Lane home.
Ragland moved from Kansas to a home on the North Fork River in 2011 after her husband died. “Every day was a blessing to wake up and see that view of the river,” she told the Times last year after her home washed away in the flood. This photo was taken a day after the water receded.
Cindy Ragland, one of Peggy and Clint Donahue's James Lane neighbors, lost everything in the 2017 flood. Her entire house disappeared in the beautiful river she loved when it became a rushing, overwhelming torrent of debris. Now, a year later, she still has nothing but the foundation where her home stood – and a few items that were found later and returned to her. She connected with finders through a Facebook lost-and-found page.
"I think we all had PTSD for awhile," said Cindy, who's now living in an RV parked on James Lane. When it got really cold during the winter, she stayed with friends she said. She's hoping to rebuild, but, like the other James Lane residents, she had no flood insurance – because the county doesn't participate in the National Flood Insurance Program, so flood insurance was unavaillable.
She's hoping the Ozark County Long Term Recovery Committee can help her. Led by James Lane-area neighbor Shawn Taylor, whose home was damaged so badly he and his wife Christina had to abandon it, the committee seeks to connect flood survivors with any governmental or charitable resources available to help.
"There are a lot of resources that people just don't know about. I'm hoping they can help me get what I need to rebuild. I'll feel a lot better when I'm back in the house,” she said.