If you have been through a natural disaster within the first six months of owning your home…

[Hellokittymania]

How has it made you feel? I am in the part of Greece that just got very badly flooded, my property is on the fifth floor, our entire building was flooded, the top floor is because of something flooding, the lower floor is because of water getting in from outside. I spoke with my neighbor earlier, we are all on edge and dreading the next time it rains, but she also mentioned to me that we are going to have a meeting, and, it is thought that one of the apartments on the fifth floor had a problem which caused the entire fourth and third floor to flood. The fifth floor was also quite badly flooded. Anyway, this would mean either my neighbors or my home had a problem. I am severely visually impaired, and I am hoping it is my neighbors place and not mine, but , I’m dreading whatever is going to happen next. I just hope this place gets fixed. I have insurance from my own property, but I’m just worried if something is wrong and I will have to be responsible for other people. I don’t know what happens in Greece in such a situation. Anyway, I have not quite settled in here, I still don’t have enough furniture from my place, I’m still decorating, I’m still doing things here and there to make it more livable for me. Who would’ve ever thought that we would experience this so soon? It has just made me feel very vulnerable, and like I don’t want to leave my place for any amount of time, in case something goes wrong.

Insurance premiums have also been on my mind lately, because I see in other parts of the world, or natural disasters are common, it is much harder to get insurance, it can be more expensive, and some places are stopping coverage all together. We have just been through a fire in July in our area, it didn’t affect my building, but it was close by and quite frightening. but things like this do scare me though. And I don’t know if there’s anything that I can do to put my mind more at ease.

If it's of any consolation, I have a friend who lives in Larissa, and it's the first time I've seen this extreme weather hit the area in the 15-20 years she has lived there.

I am heartbroken looking at the photographs and seeing her updates. I am so sorry for you OP.

There seems to be good community spirit in the area; I think everyone will come together to bring about positive changes for the future.

Kiev, it’s getting better, but a lot of us are just so tired right now. I am in Volos, and we’ve had the water situation to deal with. We know all have water, but it’s still contaminated. I do really worry though what’s going to happen in our building, and what work will need to be done, and who will pay, etc. I have seen there is compensation, but I think that’s for the people who lost their homes entirely. We had very bad flooding in our building.

It’s just not something you’re prepared for, or expect to happen so quickly when you buy a home. I was actually very afraid of earthquakes, since I was in the process of buying my home, when their earthquake hit Turkey and Syria, and they were talking about what if there was a big earthquake in Greece… And I do have earthquake insurance specifically. But this?? I wasn’t prepared for this, and now that I have seen what water can do, it’s terrifying. I was reading some other threads on here about people who’ve had pipes burst, etc., and they say once you hear that sound, it never leaves you. Now I completely understand, and I’m on the top floor with everybody below me…

I think you have to just take one step at a time as it all together, it seems overwhelming.

Talk to as many people in the community as you can. If you feel you know what remedial actions are to come and by whom, it may help you regain some sense of control.

Try to remember all the reasons you moved there in the first place and how lovely it will be when things start to return to normal.

A crisis brings people together and I hope you meet some really good people who will help you settle along the way.

Not having an easy week at all, the water has gone off again, it was on at the weekend, and now it has gone off. I am very worried for the coming months, I have put the fan in the bathroom and tried to dry the wall, but I am very nervous about mold growing. Did your friend and Larissa’s home and get flooded? Any ideas for what I can do to limit the amount of mold? Absolutely nothing has been done in our building, and it’s getting me very worried. Some days, I just don’t feel like fighting this anymore, but I’ve only had this place for six months. I held up for the floods, because I had to be very strong, but now it’s like… I don’t know what’s happening.

No she didn't get flooded. But entire roads and bridges were washed away.

You have to try to keep it both heated and ventilated as often as you can to avoid mould growth. Make sure you are regularly opening windows for a while but remember to close them.

Have you been in touch with the water board?

Twitter is a good source of instant information for local areas re things like power and water outages.

The worst flooding in my place was in my bathroom, which doesn’t have a window, it’s next to my front door, so I’m trying to open the windows in the living room as much as I can.

I have been trying to stick to a routine, do things I enjoy, and even browsing library’s for events that they are doing and re-creating them to make them my own. I still don’t have any formal activities to keep my mind off things in the local area, I have asked the French school if I can take a course this autumn, and I am trying to set up an organization of my own, but I am in that really strange. We’re, I’m still a brand new homeowner and still trying to settle in and even get furniture and think about things like painting the walls… It’s too much at times.

sometimes, I really really regret buying this place. But I’m sure that’s a feeling many of us in the area have right now. Everyone in my building was flooded, we don’t feel safe at home, and it’s not a good feeling to half.

They have a mental health line available for anyone affected by the natural disaster, so I just gave them a call. It helps us to talk, I am in tears, and I really don’t feel well. I already went out for a coffee today, but I might go for another walk, just trying to clear my head.

I am glad they were able to help. Did you go out for another coffee?

I do think trying to spend some time away from the property would be healthy for you.

I think you need emotional support as well as practical advice, so you might want to head over to the 'chat' section on Mumsnet.

I meant to say, put the extractor fan on if you have one. If you can get one, running a dehumidifier in there will help suck some of the excess moisture out of the air.

Yes, I went out for a walk, I went to flying tiger actually and bought a coloring book and some pens, my vision is very, very limited, but with the health of technology, and the ability to large things, and color for more markers, I can just about manage, and it’s some thing I enjoy doing, and will help to relax. When I was having my coffee, somebody at the next table stopped by, and she was from the Dominican republic, so I had a chance to speak Spanish, which was nice. I bought a turkey and cheese, toast, and some crisps that were yogurt and herb flavor, they were delicious actually. I have lost weight with all of this, so I’m trying to eat.

I don’t have much energy, and traveling around. Greece does take quite a bit of energy for me anyway, but I might try and see if I can at least get to Athens, and go to one of the nearby islands. It is the time of year, when jellyfish come out to play, so not sure if I would be up for the beach, but it would help to clear my head. And also, I wouldn’t have to worry about contaminated water…

i’m trying not to regret having bought this place. Very hard at the moment… I don’t know if I can get a dehumidifier, I think many people might be looking for one of those at the moment…