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Cleaning up from the July 1 floods that impacted multiple communities in Oneida County, Lori Morosco shows how high the water came in her home in Whitesboro.

The water line reaches above eye level in what used to be Lori Morosco’s finished basement in Whitesboro, New York. Flood waters destroyed nearly everything here, including both her children’s bedrooms and all of their belongings.

Lori and her family were out of town for Fourth of July weekend when the rain started. They couldn’t get home until the worst of the flooding was over, but Lori was able to watch the flood progress in footage from her home security cameras. “It’s amazing how fast the water came,” she said.

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As Lori Morosco and her family work to clean out their flooded basement in Whitesboro, a pile of ruined possessions grows in front of her home.

Up and down the street, families like Lori’s are now faced with the incredible challenge of cleaning up and starting down the long road to recovery. “We’re working from the time we get up in the morning until we just can’t do it anymore,” Lori said. Tears came to her eyes not as she talked about all the things her family has lost, but as she explained how her neighbors, friends and family have come together to help her through this.

A friend was the one who connected Lori with the Red Cross.

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“They’ve been phenomenal,” she said. “The Red Cross is the only people who’ve stopped here every day to see how we’re doing.”

Since the start of this relief operation, the Red Cross has distributed more than 300 clean up kits and more than 2,000 meals and snacks to families in Oneida County, including Lori’s. Red Cross workers are also coordinating with partner organizations like the Salvation Army and UMCOR (United Methodist Committee On Relief) to help flood victims with clean up, muck outs and basic home repairs.

GET HELP

If you’ve been affected by flooding in Oneida, Herkimer or Madison counties and need help cleaning up, please call 2-1-1 to request assistance. If the floods have forced you from your home and you need a safe place to stay, the Red Cross has an emergency shelter open at the Oneida-Herkimer-Madison BOCES at 4747 Middle Settlement Road in New Hartford. To reach the Red Cross for assistance, call the Emergency Communications Center at 1-800-831-0927, ext. 1.

GIVE HELP

All Red Cross assistance is provided free of charge and made possible by the generosity of the public. You can help by donating to Red Cross Disaster Relief. Your gift will help people affected by disasters big and small, and will support families whose lives have been upended by disasters like the recent flooding in the Mohawk Valley. Your gift will not only help with immediate needs like food and shelter; it will also put people on the road to recovery and guide communities as they better prepare for disasters.

To donate, visit redcross.org or call 1-800-RED-CROSS. Donations may also be mailed to the American Red Cross of the Mohawk Valley, 1415 Genesee Street, Utica, NY 13501.