By midnight, Fred Ortloff knew it was time to get out. He kept a close eye on the rising floodwaters from his living room window as he moved furnishings to the second floor of his Binghamton home.

"The runoff was up to my knees and flowing like a small stream," said the Broome BOCES Support Services member. Runoff usually trickles over the road and floods a park across the street during high water, he explained. "By the time I got ready to leave at about 12:30 a.m., the water was almost up to the door handles of my truck," he said.

In late June, after town officials warned of rising waters along the Susquehanna River, Ortloff's wife Deborah, a Vestal Teachers Association member, and their two children evacuated. Fred stayed behind to secure their belongings.

The family had planned for the worst, moving furniture and vehicles, with the exception of Fred's four-wheel-drive pickup, to higher ground.

From his living room that night, Ortloff surveyed the drain beneath the road and was thankful. "If it wasn't for my truck, I would have been stranded," he said.

The Ortloffs are one of thousands of families displaced in the floodplains of the Susquehanna, Delaware and Mohawk rivers, who suffered millions in property damage. Many residences remain uninhabitable.

NYSUT has not forgotten those members whose lives have been disrupted by the flooding. Contributions to the tax-deductible NYSUT Disaster Relief Fund go toward helping members still struggling to rebuild. (See box on next page.)

Floodwaters crested just shy of the second-floor joists in the Ortloff home. "We're about 60 to 70 percent damaged since the majority of our things were brought upstairs," he said. However, the first floor must be stripped to the studs and floorboards owing to mud and water damage.

The Ortloffs consider themselves lucky. Thanks to the generosity of a friend who offered them use of a house while theirs is repaired, they have a place to stay.

A Katrina-like deluge

The home of Susan and Robert Sklenarik is less than a mile from the Susquehanna River in Sidney. A nightmarish June day of hard rains at the end of a soggy spring swamped their three-bedroom ranch.

"Our basement was completely filled, and we had over three-and-a-half feet of water on the first floor," said Susan Sklenarik, a Sidney TA retiree. Robert is a Unatego TA retiree. "We lost all our appliances, most furniture. Our wiring, insulation and Sheetrock must be completely gutted."

Renovations will exceed $50,000, she estimates. Although the couple plan to complete the lion's share of renovations themselves with the help of sons, son-in-law and grandson, they're not sure the benefits of rebuilding will outweigh the costs. "Aid from FEMA and the state is not what many think it is," she said, explaining that on average the Federal Emergency Management Agency provides less than $6,000 for structural repairs.

Like many in the area, the Sklenariks carried no flood insurance.

"I'm concerned about the toll this is taking on us physically and emotionally," she said.

Collective good

Even before the unification of NYSUT and NEA/NY took effect Sept. 1, NYSUT President Dick Iannuzzi decided to visit and make NYSUT services available to NEA/NY unionists who suffered losses in the early summer flooding.

"Union members know how to work together for the collective good," said Iannuzzi. "This underscores the point that we are all one statewide union now.

"The devastation and hardship our members in the flooded areas are experiencing is far greater than most can imagine. These are our union sisters and brothers. We must do everything we can to come to their aid."

Jean Pysnik's Sidney home is slated for demolition. "My basement got wiped out, the cinderblocks just collapsed and dirt from outside the foundation is falling into the cellar," said the Unatego retiree, who lives a few houses down from the Sklenariks. "I got estimates from a contractor, but the cost to rebuild, over $100,000, is just too much."

Pysnik suffers from multiple sclerosis, which put the speech therapist into early retirement in 2000, at age 52. Now living with friends, Pysnik plans to rent, but MS restricts her options. "I use a walker so I have trouble with steps," she said. "I searched for something that was handicap-accessible, but there just aren't that many around here."

Boat rescue

Constance Nolly's property along the Mohawk River sustained $80,000 in damages. "The water kept getting deeper and deeper in my cellar," said Nolly, a teaching assistant at Fort Plain Junior-Senior High.

At first, she, her husband and son tried to pump water out of the basement. "I was standing in the hall with my dog and the water started coming up from the cellar into the first floor of our home," she said. "I knew then that we were going to lose everything."

A call to 911 brought a rescue boat. "The water was flowing so fast, it would have swept us away if we tried to wade through it," said Nolly, a Fort Plains TA member.

Two months later, Nolly's family is renting a house in town and rebuilding. Back at their home, sewage and fuel oil from a local Agway mixed with flood waters. An above-ground pool was swamped. Amid the troubles, a bright spot was the helping hands of colleagues.

"I want to particularly thank Linda Cole, Kathie Dekalb and Sue Summerfield, who helped clean up three days in a row," said Nolly.

The Sullivan County communities of Livingston Manor and Roscoe were hard hit, said April Kackos, president of the Tri-Valley TA. "I've heard of some residents having their foundations washed out and having to rebuild their houses from the frame," she said.

Homes in the Susquehanna Valley district were also swamped. "Driving through the town of Conklin is like descending into a war zone," said Oneitta Ludwig, president of the Susquehanna Valley TA. "An entire stretch of businesses and homes along the town's main thoroughfare were just destroyed."

In Walton, the downtown was swamped with four feet of floodwater. The high school was used as a shelter and a headquarters for FEMA and the Red Cross. "We had a lot of landslides, which caused trees to fall and take out the bridges, cutting us off," said Sylvia Morgan, president of the Walton TA. "We also lost roads and a grocery store."

Walton SRP local member Patty Wood was spearheading a drive to repair a footbridge in the community.

Of the 312 members of the Johnson City Employees Association, president Susan Brazen-King knows of 19 who suffered significant losses. "Five lost homes," she said.

A bright spot was a phone call of support from NYSUT President Iannuzzi. "My executive board and I were really touched that he reached out," said Brazen-King.

After nearly two months living with family following the flood, you can hear the exhaustion in Kathleen Scanlon's voice. "I choose to look at things positively," said the teaching assistant of the estimated $62,000 in damages to her Owego home. "When our house is repaired we'll have all new electrical and plumbing. It's difficult, but not terrible."

It's the second flood for the Scanlon family. Flooding last year wiped out the hot water heater, furnace and freezer. "You think, 'You've got to be kidding; is this really happening again?'" said the Owego-Apalachin TA member.

This year, water advanced to the first floor. "We could see the water creeping across our lawn so we worked to bring furnishings up to the second floor," she said. Many appliances and kitchen cabinets were ruined.

Uncertainty over just how much the flood insurance will cover is a worry.

"We have a brand-new furnace and hot water heater from last year, but they're already talking about depreciation," said Scanlon. "You get water in your house and you don't think about the other things connected to that cleanup. It's a lot more than just letting the water drain."