Pantry of Broward recovering from historic floods with community's help
FORT LAUDERDALE - For 15 years, during a disaster or crisis, the Pantry of Broward has been the place for families to turn for help, this time it's them in need. They're recovering like many others from the recent deluge of rain. CBS News Miami toured their damaged facility this Monday.
"You'll see much of the stuff is off of the floor, so a lot of our things were on pallets the water would come up higher, so we had to get rid of all of it," Maureen Luna, CEO said.
The flood damage is one of the hardest challenges she's ever faced, especially since she's been part of the founding board since 2008.
"I absolutely got emotional I walked in the door and to see and all the water that was coming in I knew that this was going to set us back," she said.
Though staff saw the water rise, they didn't think it could get that bad, unlike hurricanes, there was no warning so they could prepare.
"Our van actually got stuck in a ditch on Wednesday afternoon, so we left the building to rescue the van, not even thinking that there's a possibility of something in the building," Luna recalled.
The entire building was covered in water. They lost power, coolers short-circuited, and a lot of office equipment was destroyed.
"I'll show you here where some of the hardest so you, if you look in our bathroom all of our bathrooms, have these drains this is where a lot of the water was coming up," she pointed out.
In the aftermath, all of the food has to be thrown out. But now, food is coming back in. Neighbors 4 Neighbors is stepping up with their non-profit partners.
"They're seeing an increased demand for need as well so we were able to team up with two of our partners, the Global Empowerment Mission and Farm Share," Katy Meagher, Neighbors 4 Neighbors CEO said.
Basic supplies, water, and even things like mattresses were dropped off Monday.
"You see the meteorology reports and they say there's going to be some rain, but you don't think okay well a few days of rain means we're going to have to mobilize," Patrick Lynch, GEM Chief Dev. Officer said.
The pantry was opened back up last Tuesday, but without any meats, as the freezer is still broken.
"We ended up having to drill holes in the walls to air it out," Luna said.
So far, the refrigerator has been repaired, but there's a lot more work needed on the rest of the facility.
"Mold remediation and all of that, so it's constantly keeping up with them and making sure the staff can still work on a day-to-day basis," Luna added.
In a way, it feels like starting all over again, but for Luna, with help from the community, the Pantry is recovering from the storm.