February 26th update

This is the final update on our community's response to the flood in Fernley on January 4th, as we've just spent the last of our donated money.

Yesterday, BWB spent the last of the almost $7,000 that was donated. We used it to purchase 429 sheets of drywall, which will be distributed starting next Tuesday to homeowners still working to rebuild.  It worked out to $7.10 per 4x12 sheet, a significant savings over the $12 list price. Thanks to volunteer Ron Bell, who negotiated that great price, and Ponderosa Wholesale of Sparks, for offering it!

And thanks also to all the volunteers who spent time helping clean out and muck out after the flood. There's a small Flickr set of images from the last few days Eli and Spoon were there located. Click Here.  As you can see from the images, all the drywall in affected homes has needed to be torn out, so it all needs to be replaced.  And thanks to you, that's exactly what we're doing.

So, to everyone who donated time, money, or support to help Fernley, a heartfelt thank you!

February 4th update.

Most of the volunteers have headed off to other responsibilities now, after two weeks of slogging through mud and muck, helping the people of Fernley get back on their feet. 

With the remaining money from donations, we're now negotiating directly with a dry wall manufacturer to get at-cost material available, so we can give it out to residents rebuilding their homes and lives. As soon as the details are finalized, we'll post them here.

More than 25 people from BWB helped out in the effort, and more than 50 donated funds to help support that work. In the days ahead, we'll be meeting with various agencies and officials to decide how best to invest the remaining resources

There was some more news coverage of our work there, you can read it here.

Thanks everyone for all your support!

January 14th Update:

On Sunday, the volunteers got a lot of good work done:

Blue catches a break while Eli and Shaleen shovel mud.

The crew standing in front of their haul.

....and then go a surprise visitor!

President Bill Clinton holding a BWB patch in Fernley.

President Clinton with Blue, Matt, Eli, DA, Brad, Austin and Spoon, among others, in Fernley.

Your donations are making this work possible--latest total donated is $6,000--thank you all so very much for your generosity!!

Saturday update:

Whole buncha people are on the ground today, photos should be posted later. Fundraising has past $5500--completely off the charts!--and the Reno Gazette Journal had a story about your efforts today.

Thursday update:

Eli and Spoon spent another day in the mud, each helping several residents over the course of the day.  Their advice: bring spare shoes--the mud's a mess!

Donations now near $5,000!  Burning Man has given SF staff day off tomorrow if they want to go help, and is providing a van; contact blue@burningman.com if you'd like to see if space is still available, they'll be back Sunday night.

Plan is to join other volunteer groups in big push on Saturday, then continue Sunday as well. Housing remains available for anyone interested; contact Tom Price for details. Thanks so much for your support!

Wednesday update:

Work weekend planned--can you spare some time to help? Many hands make light work and all that.  We'll provide rooms and meals, you provide the sweat.  Contact Tom Price at price_tom at hotmail.com or 801-712 5371 with your availability, location, whether you can provide/need a ride, etc

In sacramento? Want to go help? Contact Ryan Hoeger; he's got a 7 passenger van, leaving Friday, coming back Sunday:  916.303.3227 or rwhoeger at gmail.com

Here is a map of the affected areas, from the Reno Gazette Journal.

Tuesday Jan 8th Update:

Quick update:

Water is still high in some areas. Lots and lots of toxic, e-coli mud covers floods, carpets, stuff. Huge need for people to come help out. So far, ya'll have donated an absolutely jaw dropping $4100!  This is just completely overwhelming, what an incredible gift. At a meeting in Fernley the mayor pointed out three groups of volunteers "The red cross, RSVP, and some burning man folks." And that's just w/two people in town--imagine what 30 could do!

At this point, we're asking for volunteers for a work weekend, this weekend, to come hit the job with as many hands as possible. With the break we got from the hotel, we can provide a place to sleep and three hot meals--if you can come work for a day, two, or more.  We've also heard that not as many resources are going to be available for renters, so that's likely where we're going to focus attention.

Weather should be bad Thursday, and good from there on.

Interested? Email price_tom at hotmail.com.

another update tomorrow as warranted...again, thank you all so much. just overwhelming...

MONDAY UPDATE:
Here's a quick update on the response to the flood in Fernley.

So far, the BM community has generously donated a whopping $2500+ ( I haven't seen the latest count yet).  Donations have come from as far away as England ( thank you, Cabe!). It's quite overwhelming, and wonderful to see. Thanks, everyone.

Tomorrow, the first $1,000 will get there via Hagey @ the Burner Hostel ( it goes in his account here in SF, gets taken out in Reno ) and put to work.  There's talk of a work weekend this weekend, to get a lot of people on site helping at once. It's too cold from what I understand for people to stay in travel trailers, so folks may end up in a hotel--one has offered a discounted rate for volunteers.  We'll let you know as soon as we do whether circumstances warrant/allow for a work weekend.

Spoon is at a meeting at the high school right now, getting details on the extent of damage, and who needs help. He was on TV today, helping out someone, so we've heard.

If you're calling Eli to connect directly about how to help, understand she's in Gerlach today/tomorrow getting supplies, where her phone doesn't have coverage. Leave a msg, she'll get back to you. If you call Spoon and don't get through, call back, as he doesn't do voice mail.

If you look @ the Reno Gazette Journal, there's lots of photos of people mucking out houses and cleaning off muddy flooded items--yech.

The volunteers on the ground will continue helping out however they can, and we'll update this thread all week with what's needed, and how people can come get their hands muddy if they'd like to, and letting you know how your donations have been put to use.

Thank you, all, so much for helping a community in need. So impressive to see it in action.


BACKGROUND:
As you may have seen on the news, the Truckee River levee outside Fernley, Nevada broke yesterday morning at 4am, sending a wall of freezing water rushing into low-lying neighborhoods.  Fernley is a small bedroom community near Reno, and is usually the last place people stop for gas and supplies before heading to the playa.

Read About it Here
News reports indicate about 800 homes were flooded, many to a depth as high as 8 feet. And as we all know, the expensive stuff in a home is generally on the floor.  Helicopters from Fallon Air Base did some rooftop evacuations, the Red Cross is distributing emergency supplies, and word is homeless people are being housed at the local high school, pending damage assessments from FEMA.

Three long-time BWB volunteers ( Eli Padewan Lyon, Matt Starchild Deluge, and Scott Spoon Stephenson ) have been in Fernley all afternoon making  their own assessment, and it doesn't sound good. Although the area of impact is small, it's hard hit--Spoon actually choked up on a cell call from the flooded neighborhoods, as he described helping a elderly woman wrestling one of her lamps out of her flooded home to the street. 

Now comes the hard part--mucking out houses.  The cold weather will make the mucking out all the worst, yet when the news coverage dies down there's no knowing how much help will be available.  

The team has been gathering names of people in need of help, and are returning tonight to Gerlach to get supplies. Spoon will be back in Fernley tomorrow, and Eli and Matt follow a few days later, after gathering tools ( shovels, large fans for drying, shop vac etc ) from the BWB containers at Burning Man's ranch. They'll also shuttle back in a pickup loaned by Burning Man, which can help haul supplies, tools, and debris.

Fernley's the closest thing Burning Man has to a neighbor down the street, and now's our chance to do what we do best--help out people in a tough spot.

YOU CAN HELP:

Donate money:
Spoon, Matt, and Eli are committed to working the next couple weeks, as long as they can afford to.  They need their daily expenses covered, like meals ( they won't have anywhere to cook on site, so will need to grab whatever they can; otherwise, they'll have to eat MRE's the coast guard is passing out) as well as money for gas for their cars and the truck.  Many of you know what it's like to be in the field doing this kind of work, and how a simple hot meal can make a big difference.  $30 is enough to keep someone in the field working all day. Please donate what you can. You can do so immediately on paypal--just send it to donate@burnerswithoutborders.org  . You can also mail it to BWB at 1900 3rd Street, SF, CA 94158, or just drop it by the Burning Man office at the same address, if you're in the area.

If we raise enough money, then they can use it to buy tools and supplies, support any other volunteers who show up, and help replace items lost in the flood. 100% of all funds raised will go directly to helping the victims of the flooding.

Donate time:
If you live in the Reno area and can help, and would like to connect with Eli, call 360-649-9036. Or call Spoon 775-530-9361.   If you'd like to talk about other stuff, call Tom Price at 801-712-5371--he's helping coordinate fundraising and resources for this project.

We'll be posting updates as we get them.

Thanks for all you can do to help out!