We are Wet WEt WET in the Midwest!

**forHISglory** · 06-15-2008, 07:45 PM

Just got back from my trip to CA where it is super dry, to our area which is soaked.

I was with family in Iowa and it isn't a pretty picture there. The flooding is devastating. Where my family lives is still fighting it.

Came back through Missouri today and part of the high way is shut down so they can build levees on it to keep the Mississippi River from taking over. The river had breeched the railroad levee in places and was only a few yards from the highway. Some towns are under voluntary evacuation now and buses are available to take people to high ground. Saw a lot of sandbagging and businesses and homes moving things to higher ground. Towns along the Mississippi River learned the hard way in '93 and they are taking better preparation steps now.

I was one of those sandbaggers in '93. We lost the battle to keep the levee intact, but we gave it our best. We also learned that what happens upstream will affect us down stream. Those huge Iowa floods are on their way here. Argh.......

Are any of you affected by the flooding and storms? This may be on another thread, but since I was gone, I didn't know.

**DixieJ** · 06-15-2008, 08:08 PM

Glad you've made it back safe and sound. I keep thinking about all the poor folks north of us getting flooded. We are relatively close to the Mississippi, but since we are south of where the Ohio River joins the Mississippi we usually don't get a lot of the flooding. I also rememer the '93 floods and how they affected all those north of us.

Hope you and you family stay safe!

**earthymom** · 06-15-2008, 08:12 PM

I hope you and your family stay safe and dry. Thanks for keeping us posted. The pictures on the news look awful -- my heart goes out to all those affected by these floods.

**momof2joys** · 06-15-2008, 09:28 PM

We live in Iowa but haven't had to much trouble with the flooding yet. We did have a tornado scare the other night, but nothing came of it. The sirens went off twice, but we were given the all clear about 20 minutes after the second one!! Other than that, not much else, quite a bit of rain, but nothing like southern Iowa. Good luck to those in Southern Iowa and blessings to anyone who has family down there!!

**fernykins** · 06-16-2008, 12:40 AM

I feel for everyone that are losing everything the have...... We need the rain and you guys need it to stop.............
Fern

**Palooka** · 06-16-2008, 03:16 AM

I live close to the MO river. I crossed it tonight and it was high tide but not so bad from my house.

**favesis37** · 06-16-2008, 01:29 PM

glad you made it home safe. i live in nebraska and in our town it has not been bad, thanks goodness, however my sister lives in iowa and she says it is horrible

**vigilant20** · 06-16-2008, 01:35 PM

It's not pretty even up here in WI. There's so many roads closed it's hard to get around. Trucking in half the state has been banned until things start moving again.

I hadn't realized that Friday and tried to head up to our cottage because that's where my dad wanted to spend fathers day...but after 6 hours, I hadn't even made it half way through what was a normally 3 hour trip! I finally gave up and turned around...even that was hard because roads I'd used to get up there were suddenly closed on the way back.

**shoiji** · 06-16-2008, 03:44 PM

I can't help but feel for everyone going through all these tornados and floods.

**Katybird** · 06-16-2008, 04:18 PM

My heart goes out to those who are affected by the floods and the storms.

**forHISglory** · 06-16-2008, 10:43 PM

Tonight I met the Red Cross trucks on their way towards the Mississippi River. I remember helping with meals that we served to the displaced during the flood of '93. While the folks were grateful for the hot meal, I could read the despair in their faces.
Please continue to pray for this disaster and the relief workers and sandbaggers. The poor are especially affected by floods as they live in those poorer areas near the river.

**MVS0122** · 06-17-2008, 07:58 PM

I'm close to the flooding; fortunately we live on a hill so my house wasn't affected but I had to evacuate the building I work in. I spent four days sandbagging, and that was an experience I will never forget. The first three days were to save my work buildings (we are a non-profit drug tx center) and the last day my husband, son and I all bagged for the city.

It was touching how people really pulled together; they would announce on the radio and TV stations who needed help and volunteers would just go from one place to the next offering up their services. The people who still had their regular jobs to go to would bring over popsicles and drinks during their breaks, Pizza Hut donated a bunch of pizzas to one place, and one grocery store south of here opened their doors up and told people to take what they needed. In this county alone they used 150,000 tons of sand - that's almost unimagineable to me.

At one point there were just two ways out of town, they were questioning the water supply and telling us to prepare for power outages. I kicked it into high gear then and started stockpiling canned food, filled gallons of water, got our camper going so we could keep some food cold, found a POTS phone, etc. Then the river crested earlier than expected, only because a couple of levees south of us broke so we were spared any more damage but it was at their expense. It is still flooded here but people are getting into their homes and assessing damages and are detemined to bounce back from it. This sounds sooo cheesy, but I am just really proud to be part of a community where people still jump in and help each other, and hopefully I passed a little of that on to my son. I don't want him to sit back and be a spectator.

**forHISglory** · 06-20-2008, 11:33 AM

Flood Update:
News this morning said that 90% of the levees in our county (we touch the Mississippi River) have failed. This is good news for folks south of us (in a way...) as it is making their crest predictions significantly lower. But for the folks in our county it is very bad news. After 1993, the government had assured residents that the new levees would withstand a 100 year flood. Well, 15 year later, the residents had dropped flood insurance and now are wiped out.

We have a lot of help going on here: Coast guard, National guard, church organizations, Salvation Army, Red Cross..... We have been asked to sandbag and help with meal through both our church and our retired teachers organization. Displaced folks are being housed at our state park in the cabins. But the long term help is another question.

We personally are high and dry, but our county is really hurting right now. We'd appreciate all prayers on behalf of those affected.

How about the rest of you in the midwest? How is clean up going? Or are some of you still getting ready?