GREENFIELD, Wis. — Every time Terry Crawford walks down to his basement, he envisions what it used to look like before the August floods changed everything.
"It was full of stuff. Most of it got water-logged and we had to get rid of it," Crawford said.
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Now he sees the remnants of what used to be a wall. It collapsed during the August floods, making his house unsafe to live in and destroying nearly everything in the basement. Crawford estimates he's looking at $100,000 in damages.
"It was like Sonny Liston hit me in the jaw. It was a big blow. This was our nesting right here," Crawford said.
TMJ4 first heard Crawford's story when Rebecca Klopf interviewed him as he was looking for flood resources in Waukesha.
Watch: Homeowners explore disaster relief options as SBA program could provide a low-interest loan option
TMJ4's Brendyn Jones followed up with him now that a presidential disaster declaration opens new funding opportunities, including FEMA assistance.
"FEMA just became available in the last couple of days. We applied for it and haven't had any response yet, but we're confident that's going to move pretty fast," Crawford said.
RELATED | How to apply for FEMA assistance following historic Wisconsin flooding
With the declaration, the Small Business Administration can now offer low-interest loans to homeowners to help repair structures and replace property.
Homeowners may apply for up to $500,000 to repair their primary residence and up to $100,000 to replace personal property. The first payment would be deferred for 12 months with no interest.
Crawford said it's something he'll evaluate. As holes remain in his basement wall, he hopes some relief comes soon.
"Do you feel like you guys have all the time to get this?" Jones asked, as it's been over a month since the flooding.
"Not really, but we have to do it, so we're just doing what we can every day, just waiting to hear what's coming next," Crawford said.
"We just want to get our house back to how it used to be," he said.
A GoFundMe has been set up for the Crawford Family, if you would like to support.
This story was reported on-air by Brendyn Jones and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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