Marion Patterson

People from across the country have asked recently how we are doing since the flood. The most usual question runs something like this: “How are things, there? You about all back in place?” This question while well meant, demonstrates a profound lack of understanding of what floods do. This particular series of rains that created floods affected about three-fourths of our ninety-nine counties. Think of that! The lack of understanding stems simply from lack of experience. Few people here realized what water could do or how long the process will take. Grand Forks, North Dakota, flooded and burned in 1997. See a report about their progress: http://www.draves.com/gf/ .

Leaders there advise us to plan up to a decade before we are “back to any semblance” of usual. A decade! Holy buckets! That is ten years, 3650 days…the year 2018!

Remember all our city, county, much of the state and the federal buildings were flooded and damaged or destroyed. One hospital had to be evacuated. Main roads into and out of the City were closed and alternate had to be searched out. Commercial traffic by river (Mississippi)…road (I-80, the major east and west Interstate, and I-380 the spur to the north)…rail (The major railroad line east and west) was shut down for about ten days.

To get a better understanding of what happened and the impact watch and look at:

Deep Water – a video about the flood

http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=2aDdTjfq9YM

Photos of the flood and its impact on the community

http://jvharmoncrfamilyfriends.shutterfly.com/

People are trying to make things work, but it is tough and tougher because of how matters have been handled or not since the flood by “federal authorities” and “agencies.” We could use some action here.

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“Any river is really the summation of the whole valley. To think of it as nothing but water is to ignore the greater part.” Hal Borland, This Hill, This Valley

Naturalist, Margaret Wolter, wrote this prophetic quote on the white board at the Nature Center to thank volunteers for their help with programs this spring – before the floods.

Sunny, cool, and breezy weather has helped wick off moisture. Still the Rivers are receding more slowly than hoped. Monday the Nature Center staff planned strategy to work the recovery. Later, Rich and I helped a nearby family that was flooded by flash floods from Indian Creek. Oh, the mess, the loss, the courage. Two families I know from the past were there helping, so it was nice to re-connect even under these difficult times.

Some of you have asked, “How are you doing?” Personally, we are above the flood. The Nature Center sustained considerable damage along with at least a dozen non-profits in downtown CR. These organizations usually help others. Now, they are in desperate straits.

“How are you doing?” Certainly, people are in shock, tired, trying to be optimistic, working hard, are uncomprehending of the magnitude and far reaching ramifications of the flood and the manipulation of economic and land use systems that combined with natural forces to create problems. You might be hearing of floods downstream on the Mississippi River. This is a disaster that reaches far beyond Iowa, Wisconsin and Indiana. Levees on The River have been breached, flooding millions of acres of farmland; Ten east and west railroad lines are flooded and no trains are running; barges, that carry raw goods north to south are stopped; major and smaller roads that carry trucks filled with both processed and raw goods are washed out causing trucks to find lengthy, alternative routes. As one transportation representative said, “We are paid to move goods, not sit here.” So, money lost will come home to roost.

In other words, this flood affects you!
* Like to eat chips? Made from corn. Transported by trucks.
* Like to eat beef, pork, chicken? Fed corn. Transported by trucks and trains.
* Winter oatmeal a favorite? Made right here in CR at Quaker Oats. Many oat fields flooded and reduced in acres in deference to corn for “ethanol production.”
* Love your SUV? Fueled with “ethanol” made from corn.
* Fond of the latest cheap styles imported from China. Travel by ship to west coast, put on cross country trains or trucks that are sitting waiting for bridges to re-appear, be inspected and deemed safe to cross.
*….you get the idea. This is serious. Referring to the quote above, perhaps we have been ignoring “…the greater part” of what water and rivers are.

Lynn Noel, Voyages: Canada’s Heritage Rivers

The river moves from land to water to land, in and out of organisms, reminding us what native peoples have never forgotten: that you cannot separate the land from the water, or the people from the land.

Now, some random observations:
> Alliant Energy’s command centers were down! Even though the three main ones are separated, one was flooded and the other two were under tornado warnings.
> Quiet…eerily so…just a few small planes overhead scouting the land, tracks….
> And very busy in some areas. Wow!
> Many places were built on known flood plains. What were “they” thinking?
> Who invented the myth of “100 and 500 year” flood levels? It’s time to re-think.
> I programmed my cell phone to vibrate and a bullfrog call to alert me to a call from Dan who was on his way here from NYC. Just as I set down an item near the “wetland septic” system full of cattails, I heard a “ribbit…ribbit” and thought, oh, cool, a frog! Then it dawned on me.
> Very nice of the hospitals and Health Department to buy and give for free over $100,000 of tetanus shot serum.
> One person waiting in line for a shot noted that the city was washing the streets down. Seems ironic, even though it is necessary.
>Finally, one man went to get his mail, after service was resumed. On top of the packet of mail was his water bill!

So it goes.

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