Every day I go to the Red Cross Evacuation Center to get a cup of coffee and a little snack item and see what is new. Sometimes I talk to the FEMA representatives, or other helpful people. Yesterday, a representative of the IRS was there and I found out I should be figuring out my business loss for the year and file an amended return for 2012. Of course we could call the IRS and ask for free advice, but it's not the sort of thing that comes to mind, and it's easier to talk to someone in person who realizes the extent of the local disaster.

Donated items are set out as they come in, and sometimes there's new, interesting stuff. Today, it was various household cleaners, one or two of each kind; a wide variety. I think they are donated by individuals, and now I know the sort of thing that is really needed in these situations, rather than used clothing.

When you donate clothing, it really does need to be in excellent condition. Nobody wants your old tee shirt that's frayed around the collar or has grease spots on the front. If you've got old clothes like this, don't donate them, throw them away or use them for rags. There are tons of clothes in the thrift system, so you're doing everyone a favor by getting rid of the not-so-great ones.

Another thing laid out for us to take if we need it is bath towels, and someone has made up Zip-loc bag, each containing a wash cloth and hygiene items.

Then, there are the corporate donations: lovely insulated work gloves with leather palms from Ace Hardware, buckets of cleaning tools and supplies from Home Depot, and a different variety of items in the Salvation Army buckets. The contents of each bucket are listed and taped to the wall so you can see what you're getting, and sometimes they open one so you can paw through it. Each type of cleaning bucket is a little different, and there is a Health Bucket that has personal hygiene and bathroom cleaners in it. Sometimes people open them there and leave the items they don't need there for others to pick up.

They also have shovels and rakes, big tarps, Hefty garbage bags, coolers, and of course bottled water. And various kinds of face masks to protect from breathing mold.

One of the local churches made up snack bags - a brown paper sack containing various packaged cookies and snack foods and a bottle of Gator Aid.

A lot of this stuff is picked up by the volunteers who are helping people clean up their water-damaged homes. Apparently we could call the volunteer clearinghouse, say we need cleaners, and they would go pick up the supplies and show up ready to go. My inclination is to obtain all that myself and have it ready for the workers, but they probably know better what they will need.

Today I hired a kid to help carry the furniture out of my flooded cabin, and he brought tall rubber boots, a knapsack full of tools, and ear protection. I had been putting off dealing with that wet mess, but the other day I realized I'd better hurry and get it outside the house because mold is setting in. It would be lot easier if we had running water for cleaning, and electricity so fans could be set up to circulate the air and dry things out.