The box contained a Thomas Kinkade print he gave to his wife, Connie, for her birthday, and was just one of many that he and others dredged from his flooded basement Friday morning.
The couple moved to the Millicoma Road rental in June from Kalispell, Mont. Many things were still packed in boxes and stored in the basement.
They didn't hear the knock on the door overnight Wednesday recommending that they evacuate. Residents of the road were some of the few people asked to leave during flooding caused by this week's storm.
The Walles awoke Thursday morning to sodden carpet and standing water in the downstairs bathroom. The basement was filled. Friday, a pump worked to push water out, but the level was still above workers' ankles as they trudged among floating boxes.
With no renter's insurance, the couple worked to salvage family heirlooms and memories -- one box at a time.
'We didn't know what to do," Connie Walle said.
They couldn't leave. The water was waist-deep, and their vehicles flooded, she said. 'We just kind of walked around in a daze."
Down the road, Seth Lucas and others worked to remove soaked carpet from the bottom level of his home.
Sandbags at the doors didn't keep water from seeping in through the cement and drywall, he said, pointing to the waterline with his boot. His family moved to an upper floor, taking water and other supplies in case of a power outage or if the water stuck around for a while. They never lost power, though, and performed damage control as things happened.
Debbie and Bruce Carpani didn't stick around to see what would happen to their home. After making it through a worse flood in 1996 when their vehicles and trailer flooded, they didn't want to chance getting stuck.
'I've been a little goosey ever since," Debbie Carpani said, adding they took their trailer and vehicles to a nearby park to wait out the flood waters.
They waded back Thursday morning to check on things and then were able to drive back Friday to start the work of clearing logs, debris and silt.
Bruce Carpani, along with Lucas and several others, also spent some of Friday morning helping neighbors who needed help moving large items, like a hot tub that had floated away. A group of neighbors also helped people who got stuck Thursday.
'You really come to appreciate and like your neighbors," Carpani said.
'With all the bad, there's a lot of good."
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