Recovered family correspondence — October 29, 2013. Original email from Jo Zeimet, following the September 2013 Boulder flood that forced her from her home at 4190 19th Street. The original email carried seven photographs documenting the reconstruction.
Thank you for your patience with these silly updates. There will be only one more update, at the hopeful end of this little project.
We remain grateful for the support of our friends and that this experience has required only time and money — people in Jamestown, Lyons, up Big Thompson and the Poudre, other wet places are really without homes or cars. Other folks don’t have the savings to hire a small army of craftsmen. I just don’t know how people who are still homeless in New Orleans and Sandy have kept their hope and sanity. We should consider being generous to the flood relief funds —
Keep your powder dry!!
The Residents of 4190 19th St.
In a separate October 21 note during the reconstruction, Jo wrote that she felt AraBelle and Peter had been “more present during this reconstruction process” and added, “I probably needed a little toughness.”
September 13–14, 2013 — the first flood reports
Peter Zeimet emailed Danielle after learning that Jo had been forced from her Boulder home during the overnight flood. His first message said the water had risen rapidly through the house in the middle of the night and that Jo had carried her large dog out through the water to a supermarket parking lot, where they waited out the storm.
The next day, Peter wrote that Jo was safe but still trying to determine what remained of the house and property. He urged giving her time to deal with immediate practical matters before expecting much correspondence and offered her a place to stay if needed.
These September messages are the beginning of the flood story documented by Jo’s later October reconstruction update.
November 24, 2014 — Jo and Sue bought the farm
A little more than a year after the Boulder flood, Jo announced that she and Sue had bought what she called a “farmette”: two acres with room for organic gardening, fruit, bees, future chickens, and plenty of space for Cisco.
Jo wrote that the new place was far more spacious than the little brown house on 19th Street and invited friends and family to come visit. The original email includes two photographs of the new property. Private address, phone, and contact details are intentionally omitted from this archive copy.
October 29, 2013 — the seven surviving photographs
Jo called this update “a little story in pictures.” The seven original Gmail attachments are now visually reviewed:
- Photo 1: a large item or stack outside the house wrapped tightly in bright blue tarp, with lumber laid across the top.
- Photo 2: a portable storage container beside the carport, with additional household/property items protected under a dark tarp.
- Photo 3: the rebuilt/cleaned interior living area with hardwood flooring visible again; two dogs stand in the room, with the kitchen beyond.
- Photo 4: a newly installed wooden privacy fence along the edge of the property.
- Photo 5: an interior work zone sealed with clear plastic sheeting and blue tape while repairs continue; a dog stands in the foreground.
- Photo 6: a floor opening in the laundry area exposing muddy standing water below, with plywood pulled back beside the washer/dryer.
- Photo 7: muddy floodwater actively moving through the yard along a fence, with displaced bricks and debris visible beyond it.
Together the photographs show both sides of the recovery: active flood damage and standing water, then storage, containment, reconstruction, new fencing, and portions of the house beginning to look livable again.
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