Carl Crisler's Elevated Home
Proves Successful Against Flood

Forestville, CA - Wheelchair-bound Carl Crisler, a decorated World War II veteran and retired deputy sheriff, was 75 when his River Road home in Forestville, Calif., was flooded. Crisler's home is 100 yards from the banks of the Russian River.

In Jan. 1995, seven feet of mud and water flooded his home causing serious damage. When the structure was flooded again, in March 1995, the home was condemned.

The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) paid the Crislers a $65,000 settlement for damage and loss of contents. Use of the funds was limited to restoration of the property to its previous condition and could not be applied to elevation of the home. In 1995, because the loss from damage to the property exceeded 50 percent of its value, Sonoma County required the building be elevated if it was to be rebuilt and inhabited again. If the property could have been sold, the Crislers would have sold the residence and moved.

With the help of Deluge Response Interfaith (DRI), a Guerneville-based community assistance program for elderly and financially needy persons, the Crislers elevated their home. Their project began in the summer of 1995. DRI coordinated their applications for grants and federal assistance and arranged for volunteer laborers to do a portion of the elevation work.

The total cost of elevating the house nine feet and repairing it was $83,000.The Crislers returned to their home after living 16 months in an apartment. They moved into a like-new triple-wide, three-bedroom, two-bath mobile home set two feet above the 100-year flood plain.

The first year they were in their new home (1997), five feet of water covered nearby River Road and the Crisler's property. The water rose to just below the 100-year flood level. After the water receded, the Crislers returned to find their home unscathed. When flooding occurred in 1998, there was no damage to the elevated structure. The test of elevation of the Crisler home shows that money that would have been spent for repairs, plus costs of rental assistance from FEMA and reimbursement for damage claims from NFIP were saved.