Video: One-two punch for victims of December floods

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George Brookhauser's Chehalis home has flooded before, but never like it did last December. He just spent $40,000 repairing his kitchen.

"The stove… the refrigerator… everything… it was like brand new again," he said.

The family now has a new repair bill, and this one's well over $100,000. Investigators say flooded electrical outlets caused a fire that gutted two bedrooms last week.

"Two floods and now the fire… kind of numb I guess," he said. "My children are traumatized… they don't want to spend a day away from home now."

When flood victim Linda Bond's electric stove stopped working and she smelled smoke, she checked her breaker box.

"It was hot," she said. "The plastic and the cable was bubbling… the smell was nasty."

Following two electrical fires in once-flooded homes in one week, the local Red Cross is encouraging Lewis County flood victims to get their wiring professionally inspected.

"We are not electricians but we really do want folks to be sure things are dry so they can avoid this kind of thing," said Red Cross Volunteer Coordinator Michaelle Fries.

George Brookhauser wishes someone would have told him to get his wiring inspected.

"We concentrated on this... the damaged side of the house, making sure the mold and everything was taken care of," he said.

And once everything was cleaned up, he thought he wouldn't have to worry about anything for a while.

The homeowner here thought he was lucky because the flood water never reached the second floor. It turns out, it got just below the surface. The floors weren't wet, but those electrical outlets, which sit below the surface, did get wet.