PORTLAND, Mich. — It's been two weeks since Amy Cyr has been in her house.
The ice jams made her relocate after evacuations and on Tuesday she was finally able to see her home.
"You can like feel the water and stuff," Cyr said while walking through her living room.
Her carpet was frozen with the floors underneath warped. A fish tank sitting in the corner of the room was now a block of ice. Her laundry was now frozen to the carpet, showing a family that had to leave in a pinch. Outside, her daughter's car sits under frozen floodwater. The family cat, Patches, nowhere to be found.
"We were expecting the worst and hoping for the best. Seeing it makes it real...all too real. I mean what we have to face when we do get back in the house...it's going to be a lot of work," Cyr said.
She tried to get into the house on Saturday but couldn't because the water was too high. Today that water was frozen, and a bulldozer needed to clear her street, finally gave her access. She said she wasn't sure what to expect, but just wanted to see her home.
"Just walking in, it's kind of scary. You don't know if you're going to fall through, you don't know if the floor is broken underneath or if we're just standing on ice. We just don't know."
And it's just that fear of unknown that makes the situation worse.
"If we do get home, it's going to flood again. Because all this ice has to melt. So then what? Do we just stay gone or do we wait then come home? We don't know what to do."
She says it's not a matter of if she will return to Portland, but when. She said the sense of community she has felt even while away has helped her cope.
"It's just so devastating and tragic for anyone who is living this. I just hope we can get everything rebuild and put back together. It's amazing the outpouring of support we've gotten from Portland. I love living out here," she added.
In the meantime, Cyr has been staying with family in Lansing. She said she just hopes she can come home to Portland soon.
The city is still under a flood warning until Friday.
To help people like Cyr, .click here. [portlandcommunityfund.org]
To contribute to her family's flood-related expenses click here.
