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Local News

Monday, September 01, 2008

Jenera flood victim finally has a house
By JOY BROWN

STAFF WRITER

JENERA — John Honse's living room is like no other in America, not in this day and age, anyway.

It has a recliner for him to rest his tired feet, and a television to take his mind off things. It also includes burlap bags, packages, stamps for sale, a cash register, and lockboxes for mail.

Since the August 2007 flood destroyed his home, Jenera's mayor and postmaster has been living at the village post office.

"I'm a postal contractor and this is a contract station," Honse said Friday. "The lady who owns this building said the first floor could be mine."

Honse said the post office building was his best option for housing because vacant apartments were scarce after the flood, and one that was available would not allow his dog, Griz, to live with him.

So Jenera's rural carrier, Don Walters, helped Honse make some adjustments to the back rooms at the post office so Honse could rest and sleep there.

Honse said he showers at his parents' Bluffton home.

As postmaster, Honse is scheduled to work five hours each weekday, but the front door is open until 9 p.m. so residents can pick up their mail, and that has him working extra at times.

"People come in later and sometimes when they see me in here, they ask if they can get their packages. So I'm like, 'yeah, well, I guess.' It's been a challenge," Honse said.

A year after the flood, things are finally looking up for the third-term mayor.

Honse said he hopes to move into his new modular home this holiday weekend, if he can get the rest of the painting and other odds and ends finished.

Honse's "long year" started at 4 a.m. on Aug. 21, 2007 when he was awakened by floodwater knocking over something in his utility room, which was a foot lower than the ground floor of his house at 105 W. Sandusky St. After looking out the window and seeing water covering his riding lawn mower and lapping at his Ford Explorer, he moved the vehicle up to United in Christ United Methodist Church.

"Walking back down (to the house), two ducks swam in front of me and I thought, 'Oh man, that's not a good sign,'" said Honse.

Still, he thought things couldn't get any worse than the 1981 flood, when water reached the living room of what was then his grandparents' home. But he was wrong.

Honse came back to find Griz huddling in the only dry corner, and a muskrat in a front yard bush.

"At that point I decided it wasn't a good idea to walk through that stuff (water) again. There was no guessing what was in it," Honse said.

Twenty minutes later his first floor was submerged.

Firefighters picked up the mayor and a neighbor by boat, but a scared Griz had to be left to fend for himself on the second floor.

"I had no time to do anything" but evacuate, Honse said.

The mayor returned at 6 p.m. that day to find everything on the first floor damaged, and knew right away the third-generation home he had bought from his dad in 1987, and spent countless days at while growing up, could not be saved.

But federal agencies weren't sure about that. Honse began a battle with the Small Business Administration and the Federal Emergency Management Agency over whether the home was "substantially damaged" or repairable.

"It was a long, hard fight with the government" to convince the agencies the house was destroyed, Honse said. "It's amazing what they put you through. It was just one roadblock after another."

Meanwhile, Honse had to deal with other setbacks and other discouragements. Around the time his house was finally condemned, Griz died of old age.

The home was demolished in June, and in July he was able to buy a modular from Tri-Point Homes.

To save on costs, he's been doing much of the drainage and utility hookup work himself. The new house sits five feet higher than the old one.

"I never thought I'd be without a house for a year," Honse said. "Now I have to pay for flood insurance, which I didn't have to before, and I have a mortgage that I'm going to be paying on for the rest of my life. I was a year away from paying off my other house. But I've got a place to live and nobody got hurt, thank God."

Honse said he is thankful for all the help he has received. "I don't know where I'd be without family and friends," he said.

Working at the post office is one thing, but living there is another, Honse said. "I'll be glad when I can just work my five hours here and go home," he said.

Meanwhile, he said he'll continue to push for flood reduction efforts for the village. The mayor said Jenera's flooding in August was exacerbated by a piece of old railroad property that works as a dam to keep water in town.

"I've talked to the Army Corps and they've said yes, we can take it out. But FEMA says no, not until they do some kind of study. We're not asking for money to do it. We could do it ourselves."

With an estimated 219 residents as of 2007, the August flood hit Jenera hard. Honse said about 20 homes in the southwest corner of town were most heavily damaged and other houses and businesses were affected.

Founded in 1883, the village's Main Street is still dotted with brick houses, built around that time, that look like they have rebounded. But a house next to Honse's remains gutted and empty.

"People of this town shouldn't have to deal with this anymore," Honse said of August flood issues and potential flooding problems.

Brown: 419-427-8496,

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Police seized all 20 plants, and Hendren said charges are pending.

High-powered growing lights, fans, and a box filled with dried marijuana were also found in the house, according to a police report.

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