By Sarah Light, staff writer

RUSHFORD &8212; Before the floodwaters hit his town of 1,700 people, resident Jerry Colbenson was a wealthy man.

He was the proud owner of a restored antique car, thousands of collectors&8217; baseball cards, 300 collectible toy tractors and many other antique items.

Now, all of that is ruined.

The house that he&8217;s lived in for 38 years has been deemed uninhabitable, and he will be forced to return to work out of retirement.

&8220;Is that enough to make a grown man cry?&8221; he said. &8220;Yes it is.&8221;

He said he&8217;s calculated that he and his wife, Marcia, have lost almost $500,000 worth of belongings &8212; not including the value of his home.

&8220;I lost everything,&8221; Colbenson said. &8220;I was a wealthy man, but Sunday morning, the wealth went.&8221;

There hadn&8217;t been flooding since the federal dikes were put in during the late &8217;60s.

&8220;Were we afraid of a flood?&8221; he said. &8220;No way.&8221;

But then Saturday morning, the rain began.

At about 10:30 that night, he and his wife received a call from their middle son, Jason, who lived in the same neighborhood. He had about 6 inches of water in his house.

So, Colbenson went in and helped his son clean it up, and then at about 1:30 or 2 a.m. Sunday morning, he came home.

He drank some coffee, ate two honey sandwiches, and then went to bed around 2:20 a.m.

Somewhere around 3 a.m. the sirens went off.

&8220;It&8217;s been a nightmare ever since,&8221; he said.

Luckily, he and his wife were able to make it out safely, although everything they would leave behind would be lost.

&8220;The only thing you can do is laugh about it,&8221; he said. &8220;Laugh it off.&8221;

He&8217;s mainly frustrated, though, because when he bought the house, insurance companies told his family it didn&8217;t need flood insurance, he said. The federal dikes would take care of any problems.

Now, after all the devastation, all he can do is wait to see if any federal assistance will come in to help him and the many others who are in the same situation. He&8217;s willing to do whatever it takes to make sure it&8217;s possible to get help.

In the meantime, he has begun to sort through the mess of what used to be his home.

Two houses down the road, resident Jerry Reimann is facing the same questions.

The floors in his house are also covered with mud and his belongings are scattered about.

&8220;You see it on the news all the time,&8221; Reimann said. &8220;But you never think it could happen to us.&8221;

He and his wife, Lynn, are both 61 and have worked their entire lives for their house, which they&8217;ve been in for about 16 years.

Now they don&8217;t know what they will do, he said.

During the last week, he has had feelings of fear, anger and sadness &8212; just as if he were on an emotional rollercoaster, he said.

&8220;I&8217;ve been pretty independent all my life,&8221; Reimann said. &8220;It&8217;s hard to accept charity, but you have to learn to be humble.&8221;

Though most of his belongings are destroyed, there are some treasures &8212; such as scrapbooks and photos &8212; that were saved. These help dull the pain, even if just a little.

As a Vietnam veteran, he said, he hopes the government will somehow be able to help him for risking his life to serve the country. But for now, all he can do is wait and see what happens.

&8220;I don&8217;t think we&8217;re going to get what we lost back, but at least we have each other,&8221; Reimann said.