Just want to take a moment to check in with folks and to send out prayers for those in the mid-west facing the devastating flooding... Much of my family is in Iowa and have been hit very hard. My parents (live in Palo, Iowa) are evacuated from their town and have lost pretty much everything in the house (and likely the house). From the footage, the water is shoulder high in the streets in much of the town (the local TV station showed footage of their house and my Mom saw it this morning for the first time since she was evacuated on Tuesday). Have a cousin that lives just off the river South of my parents that is waiting for the water to crest and probably will lose his house, as well. Just want to pray that others of you aren't as hard hit and pray for the thousands that have lost so much and will be displaced for months to come while it is cleaned up and re-built.
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Tammy and Pookey
(Stanley 8/91 - 8/07)
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Mid-West Flooding
Replies (9)
I have been one of the lucky ones so far here in Indiana. The water built up in my back yard but didn't quite make it to the house. Towns 30 miles south of here are devastated with even the local hospital flooded and closed. We have 41 counties, including mine that have been declared disaster area's. I am sorry for your families losses and will keep them in my prayers.
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Tessa 
Onyx, Foudini, Charlee, Spottie, ShyRaven, Buddy, Tuxie, Widdle Attila Sipowitz, Lizzie, Minnie, ET, Mylo,(We be house cats at last), and Salem, Wicca and Marmalade (We iz also house cats, we guess)and the 5 porch kits also Riley da goggie and Buddha da baby hamster too
Tabitha and Samantha..always in our hearts//Fly free Penny 12/12/07
Tammy, I'm so sorry about your folks' and other relatives losing their homes. There are just so many disasters of all sorts happening anymore. I hope they'll be okay. Prayers for everyone affected. Katc
Tammy, my thoughts and prayers are with your family and all the others who are dealing with this crisis.
Elen
Tammy, I'm so sorry that your parents are in the flood area and lost their house. Cedar Rapids and the surrounding areas are the worst that I've ever seen. My heart goes out to all whose lives are being torn apart by these floods.
It seems like it's never going to stop raining in Iowa. First we had a very long, cold and wet winter. Then Spring came bringing with it even more rain. Seems like it's been raining practically everyday the past few months. This is much worse than the floods of '93 where the state was paralyzed for several days. This time, though, we do have drinking water where we didn't in '93. That's in Des Moines though, I think that they have lost everything in the Cedar Rapids area.
The tornadoes are at their height in Iowa too, this year. First it was in Parkersburg where it ripped through the town and left many dead, then the other night, a tornado tore through a boy scout camp near Council Bluffs, killing 4 boy scouts and injuring many more.
I'm here in a suburb of Des Moines and have been lucky so far. We're about a mile from Johnston which is getting flood waters from the Saylorville Dam. Most of the Des Moines flooding is in the Birdland area and downtown Des Moines.
Driving to work, which is located on the outskirts of downtown Des Moines, and which had been evacuated due to the floods, was a horrendous ordeal Friday morning. I kept running into flooded areas and couldn't get into the parking lot. Finally I followed some other cars that were also trying to get in, and we went right through the flood waters. I was so scared. It wasn't that deep but it was so scary.
The flood waters have crested and receded now. However right now it's starting to storm all over again.
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Ruby and the Kitties
Simba, Samantha, Katrina & KatyKatt
Meow!! Meow!! Meow!! Meow!!
Tessa, Ruby -- I am so glad that your property was spared, although this has to be absolutely heart-wrenching to see up-close.
I am waiting to hear from my Uncle in Des Moines and My Step-Aunt, Step-Uncle, and Step-Cousins live in the Muscatine and Moline areas. They evacuated Columbus Junction, which is right on top of some of my family (some went to High School there). I am most worried about a cousin who lives right across from the Mississippi River. You can see it from his house...
From family in Cedar Rapids, they are at 20% drinking water and fear they will be out in the next few days... Everyone is REALLY conserving. No showers, no flushing (just a couple times a day), etc... Mom went to a Red Cross point last night to get some bottles of drinking water last night...
I pray this ends soon. Sounds like more rain there today... But, Mom said the rest of the week looks clear...
All this has to go somewhere, so states south of Iowa, Indiana, etc., are probably next on the news, unfortunately.
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Tammy and Pookey
(Stanley 8/91 - 8/07)
Good news. Talked to Step-Mom. She got in the house and the damage isn't as bad as they thought. From the outside it looked very high, but on the inside it completely filled the basement (8 or 9 feet worth of water to the tippy top) but just stopped at the first landing at the top of their basement stairs into the kitchen. Another inch or two and the upstairs would have flooded, but it is dry. They don't know yet how the structure is (floor collapse or something because wet underneath), but at this point, it looks like the basement is a total loss (spare bedroom, family room, washer, dryer, hot water heater, freezer, a lot of storage items, etc...) but the upstairs is spared. Thank goodness! The FEMA guy slipped going down the basement stairs because of all the mud on the stairs and didn't go down -- took her word for what the contents of the basement were... They also lost a car outside and the contents of their garage... But, the upstairs, main living area, is intact. They probably won't be able to live there for quite a while, the water tank is broken (well water) and structure, gas and electric inspections still have to take place. She said it didn't smell as bad inside as she thought it might. Not nice, but not too bad. She opened windows and is airing it out. Can't stay there, tho. Was just able to go for a preliminary look and basic items to take back to the hotel for now. She said between local family and friends, they should be able to clean the basement up quickly and will hopefully be able to live in the upstairs once gas, electric, and water are back...
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Tammy and Pookey
(Stanley 8/91 - 8/07)
Tammy, they need to call in a professional crew to dry out the structure as soon as possible. Otherwise the mold and bad stuff will start growing as soon as the water is gone. The flood insurance policies do cover certain types of equipment like water heaters, etc in basements, especially stuff that services the building.
Below is a link to a page that gives some additional information.
Thanks PHAbymom. Unfortunately, no one has flood insurance in that region. You can't buy it. Many have checked and they have zero coverage for the flood damage, including my parents. Unfortunately, as well, the electricity probably won't be turned on for days to weeks in that area for any type of equipment (or lights in the basement). Many inspections have to take place before people will get electric turned back on and the list is long of folks that need inspected. The third unfortunately is hundreds to thousands will be calling professional crews to help them out. So much damage to so many. They're all working with FEMA for financial assistance in the region. They have so much against them all to move swiftly on any of this.
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Tammy and Pookey
(Stanley 8/91 - 8/07)
Sending lots of Glows Tammy. The one good thing is your family is safe.
Glad the house isn't a total loss.
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Jaime owned by
Mya the dog
and the cats:Crash, Gabby and Tucker
