Help Alex and Josh Recover From The Flood

Two of our community members urgently need your help. Our dear friends Alexandra and Josh lost their home in Gorham, NH as a result of the storm on December 18th. Alex and Josh are incredible humans and community members who love to share their knowledge of the mountains with others, in addition to volunteering on the local search and rescue service. Everyone fortunate enough to have crossed paths with them in life knows if this had happened to someone else in our community, Alex and Josh would be first on the scene to help out. Few are more deserving of our support as they are suddenly faced with an overwhelming mental, emotional, and financial burden.

The December 18, 2023 storm involved intense rainfall and snowmelt in the mountains, generating a historic and destructive 100 year flood on the Peabody River. The river rose quickly in this event, resulting in a surge of water that swept away the foundation of Alex and Josh’s home, leaving it teetering over the edge of the river. This damage occurred in a matter of minutes, and they were forced to evacuate with nothing but their beloved dog, Carter. When they were able to return to the property the next day, a professional structural engineer assessed the damage and concluded that their home is a total loss with no hope of repair or rebuilding. The river not only washed away the land that their house once stood on, but has permanently changed its course to run directly underneath their home. The engineer stated that short of a multi-million dollar government engineering effort to completely reroute the river (extremely unlikely), their house is a lost cause. To make matters worse, they cannot get any assistance from insurance. Their homeowner’s insurance has formally denied any and all assistance, and because their house was not in a designated flood zone, they did not have flood insurance. Financially, this is a nightmare scenario in which they are now in debt to a valueless, uninhabitable property, while at the same time having an immediate need to find a new place to call home. While in time they may be able to seek some level of disaster relief funding from FEMA if programs are opened for NH, that amount is capped per family and will not even come close to making them whole again.

Returning to normalcy will be a long, difficult, and frustrating road for Alex and Josh. We are setting an initial fundraising goal of $20,000 to help them begin to recover. These funds will help to secure temporary housing, store their belongings, and buy some time on their existing mortgage, while also acknowledging that the full scale of their financial burden is hard to comprehend. Anything you can contribute is greatly appreciated.

Thank you on behalf of Alex, Josh, (and Carter pup!), and the entire White Mountains community and beyond that stands with them.

P.S. Please see the update below for more damage photos.