FB: American Rivers Conference

[warthog]

Nothing but buckets of rain, heavy winds and one hell of a light show here last night.  We are so thankful, but realize others around the state are less fortunate this morning.  That Iowa spirit will prevail and these small communities will come back.  I was wondering when all the relief effort from Louisianna will arrive.  Oh, that's right; it won't.  Iowans can figure out how to rebuild our lives and our communities.  We'll need the Red Cross for a couple days to hand out coffee and sandwiches then it will be pretty much up to ourselves to dig out and rebuild.  It was only a year ago when the tornado hit here.  The families and homes that were hit have done a remarkable job of repairing and rebuilding.  With the obvious signs of either no trees or grossly deformed trees you can tell the path  the tornado took, but other than that the neighborhoods are back.  The size of our tornado was nothing compared to the one that people in northeast Iowa got hit with, but the results will be the same.  There is a job to do. The Hawkeyes and Cyclones, the Panthers and Bulldogs, the Knights and the Norse, the Dutch and the Storm, the Rams and the KoHawks, the Duhawks and Spartans, the Beavers and Peacocks will all work together and get these places back to better than ever.  That's the Iowa spirit.

My sister, who lives on a farm between Monona and McGregor, e-mailed that she found pictures, mail, and cancelled checks from Parkersburg around the farm yard this morning.  The farmwhere she lives  is probably 90 miles northeast of Parkersburg.  Wow.

[The Show]

A couple Parkersburg guys on the BV roster too...hopefully they are all safe as well.

[sportsknight]

Just back to the computer after about a 26 hour hiatus.  I pulled an afternoon shift on a Waterloo radio station yesterday afternoon and was giving updates as often as I could.  Pretty crazy afternoon all the way around, especially considering how quickly everything popped up.  I think the first tornado watch was issued around 4:00, the tornado hit Pburg about 4:20 and I'm not sure there was even a warning out yet at that point.

After signing off at 6:00, I drove back to the hometown of Cascade along Highway 20.  Pretty freaky looking cloud formations off to my north along that route.  The warnings were all for the northern parts of the counties I was driving through, so I figured I was safe, especially since it wasn't all that windy up on the highway.  Watched the lightning show once back to the Scade until the rain came (rained real hard and hailed about for about 20 minutes, but that was about it).  Surveyed some of the high water levels today.  There are some farmers that got some planting done this past week that are going to have to redo it after all the rain.  I heard from a guy that lives south of LaMont who said that he was missing a grain bin.  Thing was literally picked up off the ground and he has no idea where it landed.

I'm actually kind of surprised there weren't more injuries/fatalities.  Between the high winds and the various tornado touchdowns from Parkersburg all the way over to Dubuque, things definitely could have been a lot worse.  Long road ahead for everyone that's dealing with injuries and property destruction, but like Warthog said, it is very much like the people in our state to pull together and rise above this tragedy.

[the_mayne_event]

Just back to the computer after about a 26 hour hiatus.  I pulled an afternoon shift on a Waterloo radio station yesterday afternoon and was giving updates as often as I could.  Pretty crazy afternoon all the way around, especially considering how quickly everything popped up.  I think the first tornado watch was issued around 4:00, the tornado hit Pburg about 4:20 and I'm not sure there was even a warning out yet at that point.

After signing off at 6:00, I drove back to the hometown of Cascade along Highway 20.  Pretty freaky looking cloud formations off to my north along that route.  The warnings were all for the northern parts of the counties I was driving through, so I figured I was safe, especially since it wasn't all that windy up on the highway.  Watched the lightning show once back to the Scade until the rain came (rained real hard and hailed about for about 20 minutes, but that was about it).  Surveyed some of the high water levels today.  There are some farmers that got some planting done this past week that are going to have to redo it after all the rain.  I heard from a guy that lives south of LaMont who said that he was missing a grain bin.  Thing was literally picked up off the ground and he has no idea where it landed.

I'm actually kind of surprised there weren't more injuries/fatalities.  Between the high winds and the various tornado touchdowns from Parkersburg all the way over to Dubuque, things definitely could have been a lot worse.  Long road ahead for everyone that's dealing with injuries and property destruction, but like Warthog said, it is very much like the people in our state to pull together and rise above this tragedy.

i was in delhi all weekend, nothing but heavy rains and flooding there today.  the lake was up about 6 or 7 feet off the water from normal.  said the water was shooting out 18 feet off the damn in the south.
had family in both dundee and parkersburg.  family in parkersburg is now without home, and the family in dundee is without 2 barns, and most of thier windows in their home were blown out.  they said it was like a freight train going overtop of their house.  everyone is safe, and mostly unharmed.

[Walston Hoover]

I just got back from Parkersburg. It is very sad to see the area you grew up in completely destroyed. I have truly never seen anything like it. The tornado took down absolutely everything in its path. Fire depts from literally all over the state there and the seen is like something out of a movie. Everything is absolutely flattened. Today was spent helping people gather up their personal belongings and its sad to find gray wedding pictures ruined by rain. Several incredible stories coming from the town and after seeing it, its amazing that only 4 people were killed. The rumor going around is that they are giving residents until the end of the week to get their belongings and then they are bringing in the bulldozers. That's really the only thing that can be done at this point.

Coach Thomas' house is destroyed along with every house around it.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Since SE Michigan hit the mid 80s for the first time today, had a severe t'storm watch in effect, and is supposed to be 25+ degrees cooler tomorrow, I was quite concerned that the Iowa/Minnesota killer storms were a monster front going through rather than a 'plains thing'.  Our skies are now blue, and my wife just watered the new plantings because they are no longer predicting any rain at all.  Thank you for taking the punch out for us!

More seriously, I hope none of the IIAC folks suffered any damages (any regular posters who are in the effected areas that haven't posted, perhaps due to loss of power)?  WH, my sincere sympathies for the loss of your hometown - but your families are OK, right?

[Alfredeneumann]

I just got back from Parkersburg. It is very sad to see the area you grew up in completely destroyed. I have truly never seen anything like it. The tornado took down absolutely everything in its path. Fire depts from literally all over the state there and the seen is like something out of a movie. Everything is absolutely flattened. Today was spent helping people gather up their personal belongings and its sad to find gray wedding pictures ruined by rain. Several incredible stories coming from the town and after seeing it, its amazing that only 4 people were killed. The rumor going around is that they are giving residents until the end of the week to get their belongings and then they are bringing in the bulldozers. That's really the only thing that can be done at this point.

Coach Thomas' house is destroyed along with every house around it.

KGAN TV had an interview w/ Coach Thomas last night. It can be streamed @ http://www.kgan.com/players/news/sports/video.shtml

I'm betting on AP football to win state next fall even if they have to play all road games. And Parkersburg will be back better than ever.

[Walston Hoover]

  Very many cars and ATVs with insurance company logos on them travelling around town yesterday and a news report said they were issuing checks already right away yesterday to help people get through the short term. There were some stories going around of free apartments in Cedar Falls to house people for a while too. There were only 20 people that stayed in the shelter the first night and I'm sure less than that last night. It shows how close-knit of a community it is and how many have family in the immediate area when you consider probably close to 1000 people were displaced.
I was telling my buddy on my way up yesterday that we were a stubborn German community. It was "funny" (for lack of a better term" that the Red Cross and other organizations were set up serving food throughout the day and from what I saw, it was only the volunteers there serving the food with very few to serve to.
  However, drive to the Caseys in Aplington 5 miles away and the place is packed with a line out the door of people buying food by the grocery bag full to take back to people in Parkersburg. I'm sure you would see the same thing at a lot of communities throughout Iowa.
  Even with a hundred different vehicles driving around town handing out water, there was always a brief look of what I can only describe as confusion because it was free.

[dutchfan1]

Just back to the computer after about a 26 hour hiatus.  I pulled an afternoon shift on a Waterloo radio station yesterday afternoon and was giving updates as often as I could.  Pretty crazy afternoon all the way around, especially considering how quickly everything popped up.  I think the first tornado watch was issued around 4:00, the tornado hit Pburg about 4:20 and I'm not sure there was even a warning out yet at that point.

After signing off at 6:00, I drove back to the hometown of Cascade along Highway 20.  Pretty freaky looking cloud formations off to my north along that route.  The warnings were all for the northern parts of the counties I was driving through, so I figured I was safe, especially since it wasn't all that windy up on the highway.  Watched the lightning show once back to the Scade until the rain came (rained real hard and hailed about for about 20 minutes, but that was about it).  Surveyed some of the high water levels today.  There are some farmers that got some planting done this past week that are going to have to redo it after all the rain.  I heard from a guy that lives south of LaMont who said that he was missing a grain bin.  Thing was literally picked up off the ground and he has no idea where it landed.

I'm actually kind of surprised there weren't more injuries/fatalities.  Between the high winds and the various tornado touchdowns from Parkersburg all the way over to Dubuque, things definitely could have been a lot worse.  Long road ahead for everyone that's dealing with injuries and property destruction, but like Warthog said, it is very much like the people in our state to pull together and rise above this tragedy.

i was in delhi all weekend, nothing but heavy rains and flooding there today.  the lake was up about 6 or 7 feet off the water from normal.  said the water was shooting out 18 feet off the damn in the south.
had family in both dundee and parkersburg.  family in parkersburg is now without home, and the family in dundee is without 2 barns, and most of thier windows in their home were blown out.  they said it was like a freight train going overtop of their house.  everyone is safe, and mostly unharmed.

My brother's place in Dundee lost power and had extensive flooding, it sounds like. My parent's place in Manchester was unscathed, though.

WH, my heart goes out to you and your family (and any other poster who was affected by this) -- it's gotta be tough to lose your hometown in such an awful, destructive way. If there is anything we can do to help you guys out, let us know.

[Walston Hoover]

My parents and my inlaws' houses were not affected. My dad's animal hospital is just west of Parkersburg and the first marks in the ground of the tornado are less than a half mile south of it. They were calling people who still had homes and telling them to come pick up their pets so they could house the pets from people who did lose everything. My dad spent the day yesterday checking on animals that were injured during the "storm." There was a dead cow from a farm that was in the Kwik Star parking lot in the middle of town.
A lot of people have asked about what can be done. From what I can tell, not a whole lot. We helped people load up trailers yesterday to get their stuff to friends and families, but there was more sitting around than anything as homeowners decide what to keep and what to throw. Some people had truckloads of stuff remaining. Others, next to nothing
They will bring the heavy equipment into town this weekend to get the main path cleaned up and prepare for construction. There literally is nothing standing in that path.
After the dozers come through, then there will probably be more opportunities to help out.

[TheOne89.1]

I was unaware of the storms in IA until I read about it on this board this morning.  My thoughts and prayers go out to all in the areas hit hard.  Especially to former teammates and their families.

I am sure these communities and most of NE IA will band together to get everything back to the way it was, but it will be a long and tough one for them all.  SE MN was hit hard by floods last summer taking out a couple of small communities.  One town, Rushford MN, lost about 90% of the small town businesses because insurance would not cover floods.  Owners could not afford to rebuild and just moved on.  The town is still working to rebuild and recover, but it's difficult.  We have all seen pictures of disasters around the country and world, but it just doesn't really sink in until it's hit communities you live in or close to you.

[Walston Hoover]

Not sure if this works or not. I will try to attach some pictures.

[Walston Hoover]

Doesn't work. Here is the link.
http://www2.snapfish.com/share/p=121261211850159451/l=388412826/g=98973429/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

[DutchFan2004]

Walston,

What are the plans for the school have you heard anything yet?  Will they rebuild at the site of the current school?

[footballdaddy]

Doesn't work. Here is the link.
http://www2.snapfish.com/share/p=121261211850159451/l=388412826/g=98973429/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

WOW! Words cannot describe the devastation. Although any loos of life is too much, it's amazing that there was not more after seeing these pictures.