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Community Corner

Lawrence Township Family Lost Home to Hurricane

Bakers Basin Road home was condemned after basement wall collapsed during flooding caused by Hurricane Irene.

Editor's Note: This story was written before the latest round of (Sept. 8).

Lawrence Township resident Carmen Figueroa has been reliving and recounting her family’s early-morning encounter with Hurricane Irene, fighting back tears every step of the way.

“I’ve been crying for days. I can’t sleep well,” she said during a recent interview.

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At about 8 a.m. on Sunday, Aug. 28, Figueroa was sleeping with her 2-year-old granddaughter Caylee in their home on Bakers Basin Road, a stone’s throw from the Party City store at the corner with Route 1, when a tremendous “BOOM” erupted from below as part of their basement wall collapsed.

Mario Calero – Carmen’s husband – quickly got his wife, granddaughter and 14-year-old daughter Rosanna away from the flood water that suddenly rushed into their home.

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“I dove in the water in the backyard. I got the ladder so they could climb to the roof,” he recalled.

According to Calero, firefighters had rescue boats to them within an hour.

A large portion of Bakers Basin Road, Route 1 and Franklin Corner Road as heavy rain from Hurricane Irene overflowed roadways, streams and the nearby Delaware & Raritan Canal. It was in this area that 50-year-old Cesar Ortiz was killed on Aug. 30 when he was sucked down a sewer manhole while trying to clear away the lingering flood water.

Figueroa and her beleaguered family had already felt the foundation of their house shift during the on Aug. 23. In those seconds between the wall collapse and their retreat to their roof on Aug. 28, the family could actually see their home sinking.

As bad as it was, however, luck was with them because other family members were not home during the disaster.

Mario Jr. had gotten stuck at work pulling a double-shift. His bedroom – where he likely still would have been sleeping had he been home – was in the basement that filled to the roof with water within minutes of the wall giving way. Eldest daughter Diadonna, meanwhile, was out visiting a friend.

Since the disaster, the family has been staying in one bedroom at Carmen’s sister’s house. Calero has doing his best to figure out if his home can be repaired and make sense of all the paperwork required by both his insurance company and FEMA.

“I can’t work. My tools are all underwater. I’m in construction by trade,” he said last week.

On top of the damage to their house, "our new car has been destroyed,” Figueroa said.

“My granddaughter was born in that house. My 14-year-old is quiet but I know she’s suffering," she added. "I was in the 99-cent store and listening to ladies making light of their experience and how little they’d lost. Well, I told them I lost my home and they immediately felt bad and said they were sorry."

Previous Coverage:

Lawrence Firefighters Rescue Hundreds During Storm

Hurricane Irene: Storm Photos from Around Lawrence

Photo/Video Gallery: Red Roof Inn Flood Rescues

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