MAPLE VALLEY, Wash. — When Lynne Bray was given an alert that she needed to evacuate her home, she never could have anticipated the mess that was about to unfold.
Her home in Maple Valley had never flooded, according to neighbors who have lived in the area longer, but when the Cedar River broke through a levee, the water rushed across two lots and into her home. The water rushed so quickly it carried a heavy, giant shipping container weighed down with a few hundred pounds of wood from about a quarter-mile away.
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“We’d never flooded before,” said Bray, looking almost in disbelief several days removed from the disaster. “Our home took the biggest hit. It was up to my chest deep water when I did finally get back inside the house on Sunday.”
That would be enough to knock anyone out, but things got worse. On Friday workers from 24ResTech arrived to help clean up and restore the property. According to Bray, she caught one of the workers trying to steal a number of items, including gold coins, pills, alcohol and other assorted items.
“I have nothing left,” said Bray. “It’s gone – to steal what we do have left? Why?”
The company’s owner told KIRO 7 News that it was inundated with flooding calls, which left it needing additional workers. Typically, the company does drug testing and background checks – in this case they relied on a temp agency, which claims to have done the same.
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It’s unclear what went wrong, but the 24ResTech said it has a sterling reputation – adding that it’s doing what it can to make things right.
“We sincerely apologized to the client and are willing to do whatever we can to do right by them,” said Michael Roesch, owner of 24ResTech.
Bray, however, said she’s frustrated by the whole situation. According to the King County Sheriff’s Office, the person accused of stealing the few salvageable items is being recommended for misdemeanor theft charges.
Bray is left wondering whether she can trust anyone else to enter her home, but she isn’t able to keep taking time off of work.
“I can’t keep taking time off work,” she said. “I can’t lose my job on top of my house.”
Bray’s family started a GoFundMe page to help them recover. While she was able to keep the temp worker from stealing her remaining possessions, she’s growing concerned over the amount of time the house has sat without proper restoration work – and she doesn’t feel comfortable working with the restoration company that started the work.