Community Builds New Home For Family After 2013 Floods
By CBS4 Reporter Dillon Thomas
LYONS, Colo. (CBS4)- The Town of Lyons was one of the most heavily damaged communities in the September 2013 floods that struck Colorado. Severe flooding caused many homes to wash away, forcing families to move out of town.
At the center of the destruction was the Wechsler family home. The home was built on a property the family owned for more than 100 years.
After the flood claimed their home, Dave and Cat Wechsler were forced to pack up and take their two sons to live in a mobile home.
"We've had to be in a camper at our business for the last three Christmas'," Cat Wechsler said. "It has been kind of a bummer."
Thanks to the generosity of their community, many came together to invest more than $300,000 worth of time, materials, and equipment into building the Wechsler's a new home.
The family was given keys to their reconstructed home on Thursday.
"I prayed that we would be here for the first snow, and it is starting to snow right now," Cat Wechsler said.
One of the main drivers behind the project was Adam Mack.
"It was a little emotional to see [the family move in,]" Mack said. "To understand the fear and terror they went through and knowing what they went through the past three years, it was important to get them back in for the holidays."
Crews added 1,800 square feet to the structure and lifted the foundation to avoid future flooding damage.
"If that happened again, the house would be safe," Mack said.
"The chances of another event like that happening again are slim. We are two feet higher now," Dave Wechsler said.
The family said they were overjoyed to hear the community had selected them for the project, and were even more pleased to know they would be able to return to where their family had called home for so long, once again.
"It's just nice to be back where I was before," said Avery Wechsler, Dave and Cat's son.
"It is home. It is beautiful," Dave Wechsler said.
"He has deep roots here, we never considered leaving," Cat Wechsler said.
Milender White also presented the family with a $5,000 check upon entering the home, in hopes of providing new furnishing for the family.
