The derecho destroyed our family property in Northwest Indiana last week. This is what we’re dealing with now.
Last week I was home alone when the derecho hit Northwest Indiana. A tree fell directly onto our house above me, more than 15 trees came down across our property, and we were left with major roof and porch damage, collapsed ceilings, extensive water damage, and no power for six days.
Thankfully, we’re okay. Our house and property are a different story.
This home was built by my fiancé’s grandfather & we’re the third generation of his family to live here. A lot of the trees that came down were planted by his grandpa, so walking around afterward and seeing so much of the property gone has been pretty heartbreaking. Some of these trees were enormous and had been here for decades.
Insurance should take care of a lot of the damage to the house itself, but we’re still facing a massive amount of tree removal and cleanup, damaged fencing for our dogs, and other expenses that aren’t covered.
I’m a full time artist, so after everything happened I did the thing I know how to do. I drew two T-shirt designs and started selling them to help us raise money toward the parts of the recovery we have to handle ourselves.
Mostly I wanted to share this because I’ve seen a lot of conversation about the derecho, but it’s hard to understand the scale of the damage until you actually see some of these properties. We’re just one family out of many across Northwest Indiana trying to clean up and put things back together.
If anyone wants the link to the shirts, I’m happy to share it in the comments if it’s allowed here. Otherwise, even just watching/sharing this means a lot. 🤍