skunked

Skunk Funk Forces Iowa Family From Home

Homeowner Says Insurance Won't Cover Damage

DES MOINES, Iowa -- An Albia family was chased out of their home Saturday by a cloud of four-legged foulness.

A skunk sprayed its scent on the home's dryer vent and an air conditioner.

"It's not something you can see," said Arndt-Johnston.

The homeowners are finding out it's no laughing matter. After three days of airing out the house, it still reeks of skunk.

"This was a big male skunk. It wasn't a cute, little, 'let's-pet-him' skunk," said homeowner Mary Arndt-Johnston.

The smell instantly got drawn into the house.

"We were out of there within 10 minutes. It was that bad. You could not stay there," she said.

She said it was worse than smelling a skunk while driving on the highway.

"This was like a million times that. This is like parking over one that's still going," she said.

Arndt-Johnston's son said the oil from the skunk is on everything, and if they pick up something up that has been sprayed on, they have to wash their hands and clothes.

Arndt-Johnston said the sofas have to be burned and that their items such as DVDs and books might smell forever.

"I still have that taste in my mouth, even now," she said.

Their headaches got worse Monday morning.

"I kind of feel like we got skunked twice -- by the four-legged one and then by the insurance company," she said.

Arndt-Johnston's homeowner's policy won't cover the cleaning bill.

"You can't get rid of that smell. It doesn't just go away," she said.

They said that they will be airing out the house, cleaning and repainting for weeks.

"I'm starting at the beginning and I don't know how long it's going to take," she said.

The Johnstons have been living in a hotel since Saturday.

They have been cleaning their clothes several times at a coin-operated laundry facility.

Since their insurance isn't covering anything, some friends have set up a fund to help the Johnstons at People's State Bank in Albia.