KCK family suffers damage to home, business in flash floods: ‘It was overboard’
A Kansas City, Kansas, family is reaching out to the community for help after their home and small business inventory was destroyed in the recent storms and resulting flash floods.
29-year-old Jazlin Peña and her family home’s entire first floor was damaged on July 17 as a result of the downpour that hit the Kansas City metro.
“It’s my mother’s home and luckily, we weren’t there at the time,” said Peña. “A friend of mine that lives nearby messaged me and said, ‘Hey, have you checked on the house?’ We have always had floods, but it had never gone that close to the house. This time, it was overboard.”
While many of their personal belongings, furniture and utilities were destroyed in the floods, the hardest part, according to Peña, was the loss of materials her mom and stepdad use to make an income.
“My mother has always been a seamstress,” Peña told The Star. “She makes a bunch of things really. She always sold Valentine’s Day baskets, Easter, Mother’s Day, you name it.
“She also makes yarn designs like flowers, a bunch of decorations. She had a lot of inventory that got damaged, and she’s been building up that inventory practically since she’s been living there.”
Peña’s stepdad, an interior and exterior business, also suffered heavy losses to his personal painting business.
On July 20, Peña launched a GoFundMe fundraiser to help get her family back on their feet.
Donations have been trickling in slowly, she said.
“Right now, it’s just a few friends that have helped out,” said Peña. “A cousin of mine has just recently offered us a dryer, washer. The GoFundMe is a little slow, it’s mostly friends and family that have helped out.”
Peña also shared that multiple vehicles along their street were damaged from the floods, stating that the city has done little to clean the streets, leaving many immobile.
“At this point, they’re navigating on how to figure out their vehicles. They’re trying to work but they can’t now because they don’t have a way to move. The street, I felt like they (the city) hadn’t cleaned it. A lot of debris is left out that no one has really dealt with. I’m just very grateful to anyone that can offer any type of help.”
