As rainfall continues to add up, so do problems for local widow

Arkansas volunteers have been in Trumbull County since Saturday.
& lt;a href=mailto:yovich@vindy.com & gt;By TIM YOVICH & lt;/a & gt;
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
LIBERTY -- Suffering from cancer and emphysema, 74-year-old Lois Maksim sat on the back porch of her home filled with black mold.
As the volunteers stood in a circle outside saying grace before lunch, family members arrived to view the damage inside.
"Basically, we have no place for her to stay," said a daughter, Charmaine Curto of Girard.
Maksim, of Keefer Road, is yet another victim of weeks of heavy rains.
Her slab house has been flooded three times since July 21.
"I've been here 39 years and haven't seen anything like this," Maksim, a widow, said Monday.
Although she has lost most of her first-floor furnishings, Maksim won't be reimbursed by her insurance carrier. An adjuster determined that damage was the result of surface water, which isn't covered in her policy.
Besides the moisture that has filled the first floor of her two-story home and brought with it mold, she can't climb to the upstairs bathroom because of the emphysema.
The house will take about 30 days to dry out before it can be repaired, but that's only if another deluge doesn't strike.
Today, Maksim was to begin a 96-hour chemotherapy treatment that may continue periodically.
"We need a safe place for her to recover," said Curto, who also has a two-story home with stairs her mother can't climb.
Curto said she has tried to rent a mobile home for her mother, but companies have turned her down because of the high insurance rate.
"We haven't thought that far ahead," Curto responded when asked what will happen if there's no assistance for her mother.
Help from above
As Curto and her sister, Loraine Maksim, who lives with her mother, talked over the housing problem, eight volunteers from Arkansas filled two large trash bins parked outside the house.
"I love helping people. We all love Jesus. That's what it's all about," said Ray Scott of Mountain Home, Ark., disaster recovery team leader for the White River Baptist Association.
The association is part of the Southern Baptist Convention in Little Rock. Its volunteers were requested by the Trumbull County Long-Term Recovery and Needs Agency, a coalition of local churches and nonprofit organizations.
Scott, 59, a retired aerospace manager, and other group members tore off and hauled out walling to expose the mold. The mold was then sprayed with a mixture of bleach and water.
Scott said another group of volunteers from another part of the country might come in and help rebuild Markim's home.
"We'll be pulling out" Wednesday or Thursday, Scott said, and driving the 900 miles back home.
"A thank you and a hug are free," Scott said of the only payment the volunteers hope to get for their labor.
Pat Cline of Warren, a coalition coordinator, said 30 Trumbull County homes have been cleaned through his group. It's half the number of homeowners who have asked for help cleaning.
Cline cautions that mold will become an increasing problem if buildings aren't properly cleaned.
Wall board must be removed, the mold sprayed with the bleach and water mixture and wall studs be allowed to dry. Cline stressed that disinfecting with the mixture must be done repeatedly.
& lt;a href=mailto:yovich@vindy.com & gt;yovich@vindy.com & lt;/a & gt;