Dr. Val FarmerDr.Val
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Rural Mental Health & Family Relationships

Flood Victims Face Tough Road

July 7, 2008

To flood victims in Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Missouri, late spring rains have unleashed devastation that rivals and in some cases surpasses the 1993 floods. Downtown Cedar Rapids looked eerily reminiscent of Grand Forks and East Grand Forks in the spring floods of 1997. Your painful experiences are similar to survivors of those earlier disasters.

This is what I wrote about families who were displaced by the flood and what they went through then:

You had to painfully wait to see what flood swollen waters did to your homes, your livelihood, your friends, your dreams, and your memories.

You, your friends and associates were swept away to unknown fates a few quick steps ahead of the flood. Relationships ended with suddenness. There were no farewells, no goodbye's, no closure with friends or neighbors. Some of these people will never return.

You have experienced the kindness of strangers and have eaten at the table of angels. If you had a need, someone gave it to you. "Here, this is yours." No questions asked. Shelters. Red Cross trucks with meals. Farm homes filled with strangers. Instant camaraderie born from common travail.

You hungered for information. You hoped to see TV footage of something familiar. You had a major need to see your house after the disaster, the media was great - a godsend.

Your orbit now moves in closer. Finally you can see what the flood did to your home, neighborhood, workplace and community. Your lives have been changed, scarred, ripped apart. Ever so slowly, life is coming back together.

Each new day presents its challenges. You have ridden the waves of the aftermath and the love that surrounded you. Now the reality of your losses sets in. Businesses were destroyed. Jobs were lost. Homes were lost.

Some lost homes and jobs. Most homes need major repairs and cleanup. Businesses may or may not be open.

Communal battles have been transformed to private wars. Your lives are filled with cement-like mud, smells of rotting food in refrigerators and freezers, smells of fuel oil and sewer backups. You sort through prized possessions turned to worthless dross and begin seemingly endless cleaning.

You have no time for helping a neighbor. You have your own work to do. Volunteers from great distances have come to shovel, haul and clean. These hands help other hands move with the hope they bring.

Many of you are camped in trailers next to your homes. This type of camping is no fun - no running water, no hot water, no water heaters, no furnaces, no electricity. You have to fight for the basics. The sound of a flush is like music.

You have the urge to fix things, to bring back a normal life, to make things as they were. At least you have focus. Many of your fellow victims have to await decisions about diking and diversion before they can resume their lives. Living in limbo is worse. A quick decision, good, bad or indifferent, will get people into recovery. People can adjust to a decision, but not to indecision.

Anger is an inch away from the surface. You are confronted with bureaucracy, lines and tedious paperwork. The rules are interpreted and applied unevenly from neighbor to neighbor. Criteria changes. You have a new language to learn - the language of cleanup, repairs, permits, disaster forms, contractors and suppliers. It is frustrating.

Cable and utility bills roll in for dubious services. The gougers - sadly, mostly locals - are out there in force. Greed begins to eclipse community goodwill.

Neighbors from in neighboring communities, open-hearted citizens - don't feel guilty for escaping harm’s way. You were magnificent! How people came to each other's aid touched hearts and lives. Your overwhelming support calmed raging waters. More than the government, your help was worth millions and billions of dollars. Your generosity stands out among the stories the flood victims shared.

Farmers also face difficulties. The length of the growing season determines the crop. A shorter growing season means poorer quality and lower yields. Good yields are crucial when prices are at all time highs and when the price of fuel and fertilizers are astronomic.

Farmers think, "You have sunk more than a quarter of a million in the ground this spring. Will you get it back?"

It isn't just the amount of rain, but how it comes down. If rain comes down hard, there is more trouble. Downpours cause crusting on top of the soil. Standing water washes out and kills seeds. Low spots have a low or no yield. Drowned out spots need to be reseeded.

If you reseed, then you have two stages of crops in one field. The later crop isn't as good and harvesting is a lot more work. Heavy rains also cause the runoff of fertilizer, insecticides and herbicides into ditches and eventually to rivers.

When it does dry out, you get out and work hard. It might rain again. The most frustrating days are those when you can't do anything.

Weeds rob the soil of fertility. The shade of the weeds robs plants of sunshine. Weeds stay green in the fall and plug up the combine. Weeds eventually means dockage and discounts. Weeds have moisture and have to be cleaned out or dried before grain is stored. Spraying isn’t cheap. This means sticking more money into the crop without knowing if you'll get it back.