Darla worked in the flood program for FEMA in the mid 1990’s (she works in commercial insurance now). Darla’s time in the flood program was spent flying around the country to various disasters, where she saw many families with young children who were in shock and didn’t really understand what was happening… 

She was inspired to write this children’s book about a family who goes through a flood, had hand-drawn illustrations prepared for it, and presented it to FEMA, suggesting they print it and distribute to the Red Cross to have at shelters for people displaced by floods.

FEMA loved the idea and said they were very interested! However, they sat on it for 8 months and did nothing with it. Darla took the book back, copywrighted it with the Library of Congress, and aspired to publish the book herself. However, Darla did some research and found out the costs were significant (remember this was before self-publishing on Amazon, and she was a single mother – no budget) so it went in the file cabinet and was forgotten all these years.

Fast-forward to May 2022. Darla’s husband (of 3 years) Bill, hired Tom to illustrate the story and digitize it and presented it to Darla as a surprise birthday present in August 2022, helping her finally realize her dream to publish the book.

Darla’s original goal was to get the story in the hands of flood victims but also to build awareness/as a teaching tool for families that live in low-lying areas/coastal communities to prepare children for what is ultimately very possible.

Darla hopes to partner with school districts, governments and philanthropists to fund making the book available on a large scale for all families who maybe become flood victims one day.