GRANITE CITY, Ill. — A homeowner in Granite City is losing hope after last week's flash flooding caused her basement wall to collapse.
"It breaks my heart,” Teresa Kohenskey said.
Her father and grandfather built the house in 1950.
"Grandkids have been here, kids have been here. That's my home,” she said.
But she said she fears her home's nearly 70-year run may be over.
She said the engineer her insurance company sent to her house says it’s not safe. Her family can’t live there until it’s fixed. In the meantime, they’ve jacked up the ceiling so the house doesn’t cave in.
“Insurance says they will pay zero,” Kohenskey said, because of an exclusion cause for that type of damage.
She said one estimate for a fix is more than $30,000.
“My husband's on social security. We make very little a month,” she said.
Teresa’s granddaughter even went door to door to ask for donations.
“She raised $47 in a few hours' time. You know, it's a start,” she said.
But Teresa worries without help her family may have to walk away from all those memories.
"Where do you go? Where do you go to start over?" she said.