Kim Breidt’s house is being elevated to minimize more flood damage.
By: Linda Seida
STOCKTON For Kim Breidt, the choice was either to pay now or pay later.
Not that she hasn’t paid already in time, money and labor.
In two floods, the first floor of her house on Mill Street took in 3 feet of water. The first time, she and her son were displaced for seven months; the second time, five months.
Worried it would happen again, she decided to elevate her approximately 1,200-square-foot house 12 feet at a cost of $100,000, "give or take."
"It’s all about safety," said Ms. Breidt, a school nurse in Alexandria Township. "We love to live on the river. We don’t want to be afraid of it."
The investment in her house also was considered.
"I think the value of our houses has gone down tremendously," she said.
Mill Street is prone to flooding in normal downpours, but really took a beating during the floods of April 2005 and June 2006.
When it rains heavily over a weekend, her co-workers know to be concerned.
"I come in on Monday and hear, ‘We thought about you all weekend,’" Ms. Breidt said.
They won’t have to do that anymore now Ms. Breidt’s house is being elevated by Wolfe House Movers. If another major flood hits, the ground-level area where her first floor used to be will just need power washing to get rid of the mess deposited by floodwaters. Some walls will go up there, but about a quarter of the space will remain open. In the elevated living space, her walls, carpets, cabinets and appliances will be safe.
"We’ll evacuate, shut our power off and wash it away," Ms. Breidt said. "We’ll be able to help our neighbors now."
One neighbor elevated her house last year. Another is waiting for help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
But help from FEMA to pay for house elevations could be a while in coming. Municipalities first must have in place a flood mitigation plan.
Stockton is still working on the borough’s plan. Instead, Ms. Breidt decided to take out a loan to pay for the elevation, she said.
Ms. Breidt and her son will be displaced for about two months as the work proceeds, and they’ll live with her parents.
"It’s worth mitigating for flood damage," she said.
The house elevation is complicated by the borough’s repairs to Mill Street, which are ongoing. Friday, the street was being ripped up, and paving was planned for Tuesday. In the middle of it all, Wolfe workers were going about the business of elevating the house.
Friday afternoon, the house was being lifted. An excavation of the foundation was next. Then a mason has to come in and construct a new foundation.

