Published on MainLine Today
Family Displaced by Hurricane Ida Flooding in Chester County
The day of the flooding from Hurricane Ida was Virginia Tharp’s third year anniversary of living on Meredith Court. She teared up just walking into the house because she knew her family would not return. Their home was in Coatesville, a town where over 100 families were displaced. Now Virginia and her kids are living at a local hotel among thirty individuals who also had to leave their homes.
Hundreds have been displaced in southeastern Pennsylvania due to the flooding from Hurricane Ida on September 1, 2021. Government and media reports indicate that some 400 homes across the area were destroyed or had major damage (without full data from three primary counties), as well as $100 million in damage throughout the state.
Because the property value of homes in flood zones decreases, those who live there are frequently at a low socioeconomic level. At a greater risk of flooding, they’re dealing with environmental injustice. When a crisis hits, they have no margin to absorb the shock. And therein lies the cruelty—that those who have a lower income level are the ones who also have to manage the loss of their house and properties.
Born at the Chester County Hospital, Virginia is a local to southeastern Pennsylvania. “I gave birth to twelve kids,” she says. “Five live with me now and I have four older ones who are here in this area.”
Immediately after her home flooded, Virginia’s family relocated to a local hotel, and a couple weeks later the house was condemned. “It’s very depressing to go from a three-bedroom house to a hotel room. We have two hotel rooms, so three per room [including] two beds, a desk, and a refrigerator you can’t fit nothing in.” Her family’s pit bull and bearded dragon also came with them to the hotel.
Explaining the day of the flooding, she says, “At our house, the whole basement flooded. Our washer and dryer were upside down. All my totes and baskets were tipped over and the water was gushing in. It came up to the first floor, but it was enough to make the floors warped, there’s mold all over, it’s climbing up the walls. I can’t hardly be out there too much—the smell gets to me. The night of the flooding, they came and told us we had ten minutes to get out or we’d get stuck and have to be rescued. So, I piled what I could in my car and then the borough got a couple of my kids. My oldest son and another kid decided they were going to try to wait it out and see if it would go down. They had to be rescued by boat.”
Virginia’s property manager explained that the flooding came in from multiple directions. It even took a deck off of one house which went floating down the street, along with a dumpster.
“We got flooded two months before this,” Virginia says. “The kids were outside playing and swimming. It got bad this time because it reached the electrical outlets, and then we got mud and everything else inside our well and our sceptic. Our backyard was like a swimming pool [and our neighbor’s] dog was out in it. He had to swim, and now he’s at the hotel.”
Virginia worked at Turkey Hill prior to March of 2020 when she resigned due to her health issues and concern of getting Covid. She was home with the kids for a year when they were all in cyber school, which was actually helpful so that she didn’t have to pay for childcare.
“Now the busses pick them up here and drop them off here [at the hotel]. Before that, I was taking them [for a couple weeks]—which was rough. It was far but also one kid had to be at school at 7:30am and the other ones couldn’t get dropped off till 9:00am. So, what do I do for an hour? Gas wise, do I drive back to Lionville? It was a lot.”
Years before the flooding and Covid-19, life was not easy for Virginia either. She shares, “I was homeless—like really homeless—[in a place that was] not fit for a dog. I had eight of my kids there. There was no hot water, stove, or fridge. We were confined to one room because it had no heat and was the deadbeat of winter. There were 8-10 inches of show, it was 30 degrees outside, and I didn’t have a car. I was basically walking to get my kids food. I think Peanut was not even a year old. I had a friend of mine keep her as much as possible because it was so cold. I’m also a recovering drug addict, so I used all my money [feeding that addiction] instead of on rent. But I’ve turned my life around for my kids. I just feel like I [got through] all that and now this [flooding]. But I’d do anything for my kids.”
Immediately after the flooding, Virginia says there was plenty of support: “We used to get gift cards at least every other day, but now I haven't seen any gift cards in a couple weeks. There are some of us who are still displaced and are going to [remain] displaced. I don’t want to be here any longer than I have to,” Virginia said. “They’re saying there’s no expiration date, but I have an expiration date. So, I’m giving it another month.”
Those living in Virginia’s community of Downingtown and Coatesville, who had more protection of their property, had the luxury of soon forgetting about the flooding. Comfort allows many to have no understanding of the longevity of a disaster for others.
Now, their family is among approximately 30 individuals who have been at the hotel for over sixteen weeks (as of December 23, 2021), and Virginia continues to look for a new rental property. But with the family’s primary income being SSI from two of her children, they’re limited financially. She says, “Rentals are going and landlords are price gouging right now.”
Virginia shares that she’d like the local community to “know that it’s not easy and we’re all struggling every day. It’s hard to be in a hotel because there’s really nowhere to cook. The kids haven’t had a home-cooked meal, except for what the church brings us.”
The fear of how her family’s long-term future will play out continues to keep Virginia awake at night. She says, “I tend to think about it after the kids are in bed. There are a lot of nights I go to bed crying. I don’t want the kids to see that. I want them to see that Mommy is strong, Mommy’s got this. If they see me breaking down, that’s only going to make them depressed.”
Virginia is nothing short of a contemporary hero. She’s been through the nightmare of homelessness, drug addiction, and home flooding, and still continues to fiercely love and protect her children. She bravely shares her story, one that speaks for the many who have lost their homes due to the increasing severity of floods in Southeastern Pennsylvania.
“Home is where I want to spend the rest of my life,” Virginia says. “I get tired because my kids have moved more than they needed to. They make friends somewhere and then have to leave those friends. My goal is to get my kids somewhere where I know they’ll be okay for the long term. I want my kids to be able to sleep in their beds and have a normal home routine.”