The Aftermath: Local residents wait for the water to go down, begin clean-up and try to get back to life as usual
by Sara Sedlacek · June 25, 2008

Though the Cedar River has crested, it has left a path of destruction in its wake. Hundreds of Muscatine County residents, including many in Atalissa and Nichols, have been left homeless and without possessions, roadways have been destroyed and months of clean-up lie ahead.

Help is on the way

Help has come, however. The Red Cross set up shop at the Atalissa Fire Station beginning last Friday, June 20, to aid Muscatine County flood victims. At the request of the Atalissa Betterment Committee (ABC’s), Red Cross volunteers began working with flood victims to help them receive aid. The volunteers came bearing gifts of clean-up and comfort kits. The clean-up kit included a bucket, mop, broom, gloves, household cleaners and towels. The comfort kit included shampoo, conditioner, soap, toothpaste and other toiletries. According to Jody McKillip with the ABC’s, things were moving slowly but people were receiving the help they needed.

“I think a lot of people are disappointed with how fast it’s going. It takes two Red Cross people to help one person,” she said. “It’s a long process. Everybody has a difficult story. Some of their eyes are so sad. They look like they’re not in there. One woman looked at me and started crying and just said, ‘I don’t know what to do.’”

Many of the people seeking aid lost everything to the flood waters and had no place else to go, so it was a relief when the Red Cross came to them.

“There’s been a steady flow of people,” said ABC member Vada Baker. “We’ve been able to get housing for a couple of people at Sunnyview Manor. Karen Lathrop [Executive Director of West Liberty Economic Area Development] has sent us a list of all the apartment owners in West Liberty and Wilton to get people places to live. The Red Cross has just been absolutely wonderful.”

In addition to hot meals and cleaning supplies, the Red Cross also provided many people with gift cards, denominations of which are based on income. The Salvation Army also provided food and water to those waiting for their turn with the volunteers. West Liberty State Bank also donated 25 cases of water Friday afternoon.

“Because we’re strong in the community, we wanted to step up to the plate and help,” said Lee Geertz of West Liberty State Bank. “We really wanted to help the people in the community.”

The ABC’s are accepting donations of clothing, toys, boots, shoes and other items to give to the flood victims. Donations may be brought to the Index office at 201 E. 3rd St. in West Liberty.

“We’re giving all that away, there’s no charge,” said Baker. “There were two elderly gentlemen here who are now living in their truck. Their eyes are so sad. My heart really goes out to them. Everyone has been so patient and kind to each other through all this.”

The Red Cross was in Atalissa Saturday, Monday and will return Wednesday to aid more victims. They will also welcome Cedar County victims, as well.

The mail

Atalissa Postmaster Regeanna Arrowood slept on the floor of the Atalissa Post Office along with West Liberty Postmaster Deb Sheldon last Thursday after it was clear there would be little chance she would easily return to work the next day.

“We slept here and were afraid we couldn’t get back to work the next day,” she said. “We were stranded Friday so we stayed with Xann Mathers.”

The mail didn’t stop, though. There were six towns during the worst of the flooding that were unable to get mail to its customers in a timely manner so mail was dropped off in West Liberty and Arrowood and postmasters from Nichols and other towns traveled to West Liberty to get their mail and sort it, even though much of it couldn’t even be delivered.

“We’re talking to so many people who have lost everything,” she said. “I’ve been crying for days because these people are telling these stories and they’re just heartbreaking.”

Many mailboxes were under water and Arrowood was instructing people to call the companies from which they may be getting bills to let them know they were unable to receive mail.

Getting around

Several roadways have been completely destroyed by the floodwaters including many in Muscatine County. Highway 6 between Atalissa and Moscow and F-70 and Highway 22 between West Liberty and Muscatine are gone and, according to Muscatine County Engineer Keith White, there’s a long road ahead.

“There are roads that have been worked on and others that may be months,” White said. “F-70 is not something that can be repaired. It’s destroyed and gone. We’ll be lucky if it’s replaced this year.”

Since F-70 is a federal aid route, White explained there is a different set of rules and a different pot of money for fixing the route.

“We’re waiting to see if they’re declared disasters,” he said. “If they’re not, we have to come up with millions of dollars. Odds are, they will be [declared disasters].”

Since the roadways are gone, there will be no repairs done. A new roadway will have to be designed to replace the one that was destroyed.

“If we could accomplish that this year, it’ll be a miracle,” said White. “It’s going to be long-term to get the roads fully restored but we’re working to try to gain local access within days. There are still water going over those roadways and there are a couple bridges we can’t get to to know if they’re damaged. We can’t know exact figures but the repairs will be in excess of a million dollars.”

White said he believes F-70 will cost the county at least a $1 million but hopes other sources of funding will open up.

“F-70 is a major loss,” he said. “We’re hoping federal highway money will become available so we can figure out how to get it replaced.”

Highway 6, 22 and F-70 will be closed indefinitely but G-28 to Columbus Junction opened Monday, June 23, and gravel routes are slowly being fixed and opening to Muscatine.