With the long anticipated arrival of winter break, Middletown High School teacher and swim coach Casey Rogers embarked on a tropical cruise getaway with family, hoping to leave behind the daily stresses of life at home. Her bags were packed, her travel arrangements were set; there were nothing but images of tropical fish and white beaches set in her sights.

Perhaps she should have packed her bags more carefully. Rogers brought along more than just sunscreen and bathing suits; she also brought along a series of startling occurrences that threatened to ruin not only her trip, but her home, as well.

Shortly after departing the country, spending her days like a true Bahamian, snorkeling and enjoying the simple pleasures of the ocean, Rogers began to notice that something was not quite right. As any traveler would know, reception on a cruise is extremely limited and making international phone calls comes with sky-high prices. Due to the little service she had, Rogers kept her phone turned off most of the trip.

“I figured if someone in my family had any sort of emergency they would call my aunt first anyway,” said Rogers.

When her phone was on, she was able to read the first three words of a text message without actually opening it. While this seemed convenient at the time, it proved to be incredibly problematic.

She received a text message from a friend that read “water is rush,” but figured it was about bad weather at home, so she did not read it.

“When I got two other messages and some missed calls it became obvious that something was wrong,” said Rogers.

After calling her sister, Rogers was told of the catastrophic event that occurred while she was away.

A hose, which was connected to the washing machine, broke causing water to flood the basement and newly renovated porch.

“I just got the bill the other day,” said Rogers. “It was just over 69,000 gallons of water.”

According to The Committee for Severe Weather Awareness, flooding affects several hundred thousand Americans every year. Despite the precautions that were taken to secure her house before she left, Rogers did not turn off the water.

Although she sometimes turns off the water before leaving, Rogers did not this time because she “was afraid that it would get really cold and the pipes would freeze and burst.”

“I turned off the gas and unplugged all of the electronics,” Rogers said. “I have since learned from the plumber what do in the winter time [when shutting off the water for extended periods of time].”

Rogers’ sister encouraged her to enjoy the remainder of her trip and not to worry because things were being taken care of. The house was being dried out, and it seemed that this disaster had run its course.

The worst of it, Rogers found, had yet to come.

Because she had locked her house before leaving, neighbors were forced to break into the house in order to stop the flooding.

“Apparently,” she said, “the lock was really loose after that.”

Sometime during the next couple days, several items were stolen from her home, including a DVD player, digital camera, laptop, collected coins and her grandmother’s jewelry.

The estimated value of all these items is near $2,000.

While it did greatly upset Rogers to lose all of these belongings, the real pain came from losing her grandmother’s jewelry and jewelry box, which was extremely sentimental. There was very little in the box to make money off of; it was simply a treasured object very close to her heart.

Despite the great personal and material losses, Rogers still feels safe living in Myersville.

“Myersville is a safe place,” she said. “Maybe my stuff isn’t safe, but that is just stuff. I definitely think anyone can walk down the street at any hour and be safe.”

When contemplating on the reasons someone would break into her house, Rogers has little to say, choosing to simply label it as “mean spirited.”

 She prefers to focus on the positive aspects of the disaster, like the outreach and support from neighbors, colleagues and friends.

“To the people that have stepped up and the people who have offered help, my message is thank you,” she said. “I love living in a small town because of people like you.”