On July 5, 2017, I was on a canal boat in Amsterdam cruising to a dinner meeting when I received a call saying, “We need immediate access to your condo; water is rushing into the street from beneath your front door.” And my heart stopped beating for a moment.

Floods are serious. Even as water gives us life, it can destroy, and quickly.

My tale of woe is nothing compared to what thousands of U.S. citizens are facing in Texas, Florida, and Puerto Rico. The news during the past weeks has shaken me because I know how bad my little flood was. For me, the water was only an inch deep, but it was an inch that ruined the entire lower level of my home. The floors are gone, wallboard destroyed, cabinets ripped out. It breaks my heart to think of what several feet of water have done to people’s homes, and lives.

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