Video by Lynn Beittel of Visionary Video

KAILUA-KONA, Hawaii – The recent flash floods in Kona have done more than swamp roads and infrastructure. The Plumeria Road home of Nat and Sheryl Giesbrecht has been flooded out twice since September 4th. The couple, who moved to the Hawaiian Islands in February 2014, say they have lost everything.

The Giesbrechts were renovating their home and were working on the last room when the floods came.

“We initially had some seepage into one entire room Sept 4 with heavy rain,” the family wrote on the GoFundMe page they created following the disaster, “but on Sept 15 during the dinner hour, we were totally submerged with 18-24 inches of water throughout entire home, property, pool and garage. We were flooded out within 20-30 minutes and had to abandon property. We were at homesite the next day removing carpets and assessing damage when another flash flood hit our home. There was no rain and the sun was shining and yet rainwater from the mountains came down and submerged us in another foot of water.”

Now, the cleanup is underway but the Giesbrechts are unsure of their next move. There is fear that the same thing might happen again. There is further confusion; the family says they “had not been offered flood insurance because we apparently had been in a 100 year no flood zone.” Neighbors that have lived in the area for three decades told the Giesbrechts “they have never had any water damage and so this is a very unusual and unfortunate event.”

In footage provided by Visionary Video, Nat Giesbrecht talks about all the work he and his wife have put into the property, before and after the flood. By the end of the interview, Giesbrecht is nearly overcome with emotion as he dwells on the effort.

Nat Giesbrecht