The angels in Iowa (trip to Cedar Rapids)

“We are, each of us angels with only one wing; and we can only fly by embracing one another.” ~ Luciano de Crescenzo

We meet some of the nicest people even in their darkest hours. When all they have known is gone, there is nothing left but what is inside the heart. Their true spirit shines.

In mid-June, days of heavy rain soaked Iowa filling 9 rivers across the state which overflowed their banks.

On June 12, the Cedar River didn’t just spill over the banks, it poured over resulting in the historic 500-year flood.

Nearly 4,000 homes were evacuated and over 400 city blocks were completely under water. The historic Czech Village was under 8-feet or more of water. Hormel foods corporate offices and the Spam museum were flooded out as well as many other major businesses. A railroad bridge collapsed. And many main trunk roads to, from and within the city were closed.

And the water rose.

The Cedar River crested at nearly 32 feet — 12 feet higher than the record set in 1929.

Only one out of a dozen or more water wells supplying clean drinking water was working as floodwaters knocked out electricity that supplied the wells. Clean drinking water was nearly non-existent.

The preliminary damage was estimated at nearly $737 million.

Now one month after the flooding, recovery efforts continue.

I, and five others from Anoka, Zimmerman, Elk River, Onamia and Harmony Minnesota went to Iowa to help our neighbors.

The six of us left on Friday, July 11 driving over 6 hours to Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
We were almost to the city limits when Jenny Orsborn, our group leader, said, “Here it comes. Can you smell it?”

It is a smell that once you experience it, you never forget it and you know the instant you smell it what it is.

It is the smell of stagnant water. It is the smell of mold. It is the smell of a flood.

It is the smell of every personal photograph, kindergarten artwork, high school diploma ... gone.

It is the smell of grandmothers wedding dress ... gone.

It is the smell of everything held dear to the hearts of the people ... gone.

We, the six of us, have all smelled it before. The air smelled just like New Orleans.

It was interesting to compare and contrast the two devastating floods. But too much to do in one blog.

For now, I will say from what I observed, Cedar Rapids is already at only one month past the flood, they are already ahead of some areas in New Orleans. It appeared to me and our group that at least every house in the flooded area had already had at least some work done.

But the recovery takes time. They are estimating full recovery will take years. We know this to be true after New Orleans.

Those homeowners who can complete the work themselves are by all appearances doing so. But the elderly and others unable to do anything are having a hard time.

On Saturday we worked on one house on A street — 10 blocks from the river. Leonore had lived in her home for many years and raised her family there.

We gutted her house on the first floor taking everything out from the floorboards to the sheetrock and insulation stripping the walls to the 2 X 4's up to 4-foot on each wall.

I pounded a hammer into the sheetrock and ripped it from the wall. Next came the insulation. Fiberglass insulation works like a wick in an oil lamp for floodwater. It was all moldy and had to be pulled.

That is where the long sleeved shirts donated to us by Adidas came in handy. I itched from head to toe.

It was not easy work. And it was dirty. We did it for Leonore.

Piles grew on the front curb. A pile for wood scraps, a pile for appliances and a pile for trash.

And it smelled.

A shower has never felt so good as after working on Saturday.

Michele Schwable in our group has family members who live in Cedar Rapids. They were very kind and feed us a delicious picnic with homemade southern fried chicken, potato salad and all the fixin’s. We ate in a beautiful park, and then were given a guided tour of the areas affected by the flood. I will try to post some photos later.

Sunday, we went to the home of Becky and Fred. They were a lovely older couple and I fell in love with Becky immediately. She just shines.

Fred and Becky were not nearly as far ahead in the game as Leonore was. Leonore had family who helped her out a lot. Fred and Becky were trying to do for themselves.

They were in a completely different neighborhood that was flooded by a creek that spills off from the Cedar River near the Cargil plant. The area was never expected to flood and the couple had no flood insurance.

Water filled their basement. And a lot of it was still there.

As Dave, Gary and Jenny tore up the carpet in the living room, Anne and Michele were packing up pieces of Becky and Fred’s life from the kitchen. All of their pots and pans, dishes, utensils etc. were still occupying the cupboards and needed to be moved out.

I was trying my hardest to pack up Becky’s family China from an antique cabinet in the dining room.

Becky sat nearby me and told me tiny pieces of her family history through memories as I wrapped each item in old pieces of clothing to protect them.

When I finished with the China cabinet, I moved on to help Fred pack up the den.
Fred was a collector in his eyes — a pack rat in Becky’s eyes. He saved everything. His important papers he kept in a safe. The safe was presumably ok and protected from the floodwaters. Everything else in the room was basically destroyed.
But it was very difficult for Fred to decide what could be saved and what could be tossed.

He was also an artist. He painted mostly and a lot of his paintings were in that room. All were destroyed.

Over 30 years ago he had painted a portrait of his first wife. She passed away several years ago. The painting was destroyed. He tossed it into the trash bin.
“I guess I can paint another,” he said with a tear forming in the corner of his eye.

I picked up a small antique sewing table which stood only about thigh high. It was covered in thick green mold.

I tossed it onto the growing pile outside.

I picked up a toss pillow off the couch and water poured from the pillow onto the floor. I dropped it into the trash bin.

I picked up a throw blanket and water again poured from the blanket as if I had turned on a faucet.

Under the blanket was mold growing. Tall white fuzz like something I grew in a petri dish in microbiology class in college.

The smell was too much.

As I wheeled the over-flowing bin to the curb to add to the pile, I cried. The heat and the smell and the emotion of the day had gotten to me.

It was a difficult and dirty job but very rewarding when we finished.

We stripped down to our under garments right there in the street changing into our clean traveling clothes. Most of our work clothes were tossed into the pile on the curb in front of Fred and Becky’s house and left behind.

We gave hugs and shared tears and laughs with Fred and Becky before we left for home.
The 6-hour drive home was more subdued than the drive down there. We were all tired. We were achy. And we smelled.

When I got home late Sunday night, I stood in the shower for nearly 30 minutes just letting the water cleanse my skin and refresh my soul.

That was the best shower I have ever had. Somehow even better than the day before.

Our bodies were tired, achy, scratched and bruised. A couple of us in the group came home with sore throats and coughing. Two days after my return I could still taste mold in the back of my throat.

But our coughs and aches and pains will go away. The emotional pain felt by Leonore, Fred, Becky and the thousands of people in Iowa who lost everything will last a lifetime.

We did what we could to help ease their pain.

Jenny calls us her Traveling Angels. Her motto is “we are saving the world, one house at a time.” The group has participated in disaster relief from New Orleans, Rushford, Hugo and Iowa. And that is just the beginning.

If you would like to volunteer for clean up in Iowa there is much to do and many ways to help. Not all jobs are as dirty. Individuals or groups who want to volunteer can sign up online with Corridor Recovery at: www.corridorrecovery.org/CedarRapidsArea.asp or call volunteer hotline at (319) 540.4810.

The people of Iowa will thank you and you meet some of the nicest people. Tell them the Angels sent you.

Peace.

“Be an angel to someone else whenever you can, as a way of thanking God for the help your angel has given you.” ~ Quoted in The Angels' Little Instruction Book by Eileen Elias Freeman, 1994